Willy 
ii 
Ht 
ny 
Hit 
it 


S % Feuer 


AS Wie Simoba 
SAK, | 06 


DUKE 
UNIVERSITY 


DIVINITY SCHOOL 
LIBRARY 


Se rae he 
voy , 

Pip tek i he 

eos # 


PPP ye 


es TA, 3 
Pe ae; 


m . 
, a s ae! 
i WU ny) , acts 
uw ‘ahd i 
a a | 
: a? ; 
i) ‘1 . e « 
~ : 
Ved ae 
a oe” 
/ 
‘ 
‘ 
‘ 
van 5 ee 
’ 
hi 
- 


Dee lok OF OE NEPIRES - 


4h aie 


Digitized by the Intel t Gs rchit 
in 2022 with funding from 
Duke 2 University Libraries 


ss 


x 


Span’ mre 


ANIA te 


[frontispiece. 


E LAWS. 


MMURABI RECEIVING TH 


KHA 


| THE 
exo) OF EMPIRES 


SbabyYLON OF THE BIBLE” 
iN THE LIGHT OF .LATEST RESEARCH 


AN ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN, GROWTH, AND DEVELOPMENT 
OF THE EMPIRE, CIVILIZATION, AND HISTORY OF 
THE ANCIENT BABYLONIAN EMPIRE, FROM THE 
EARLIEST TIMES TO THE CONSOLIDATION 
OF THE EMPIRE IN B.C. 2000 


BY 


West. CHAD BOSCAWEN 


AUTHOR OF 


** FROM UNDER THE DUST OF AGES,” ‘‘ HEBREW TRADITION IN THE LIGHT OF 
THE MONUMENTS,” “‘ BRITISH MUSEUM LECTURES,” ETC., ETC. 


‘‘But aught beyond traditions oral tale, 
Or gleams of truth like wavering moonlight pale, 
The Arab knows not, though around him rise 
The sepulchres of earth's first monarchies.” 


Newdigate Prize Poem, 1851, by ALFRED W. HUNT 


LONDON AND NEW YORK 


rahe ke or BROT EE RS 
45, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 


1903 


THIS WORK IS DEDICATED 
TO 


THE LOVING MEMORY OF MY FATHER 


WILLIAM HENRY BOSCAWEN, B.A. 


VICAR OF HANMER, FLINTSHIRE, 1852-1870, AND RECTOR OF 


MARCHWIEL, DENBIGHSHIRE, 1870-1883 


FROM WHOM I FIRST LEARNED THE CHARM OF THE STUDY 


WHICH HAS BEEN THE ONE OBJECT OF MY LIFE 


‘Let the wise and understanding ponder on them together, 
Let the father repeat them and teach them to his son.” 


EPILOGUE VII., ‘‘CREATION”’ TABLET 


PREVA © 


IN placing this work before the public, some few words 
of explanation as to its scope and intention may be 
necessary. 

In the world of Oriental research, during the last half 
century, the labours of the explorer and the decipherer 
have produced such astonishing results as to revolutionize 
all our former ideas as to the true nature and character of 
Oriental nations. The work of the spade in Egypt, in 
Chaldea, and in the nearer East have produced evidence 
of civilizations, organized communities and empires of 
widespread influence totally undreamt of but a few years 
ago. The activity of the explorer, supplemented by the 
patient labours of the decipherer, has given to the mystical 
and fabulous East a concrete reality totally unexpected ; 
and from the buried libraries of Assyria, Babylonia, and 
Egypt have come the treasures of a literature which, even 
the most prejudiced critic is compelled to admit, demand 
a careful consideration in the reconstruction of the Old 
World’s story. The chief triumph of this resurrection of 
the buried past has been the recognition of the claims of 
Assyriology, and of the fact that in the ancient libraries 
of Babylonia and Assyria were stored priceless works which 
formed the first editions of those which we had hitherto 
regarded as the sole chronicles of human origins. 


1X 


De PREFACE 


The triumph of Assyriology began with the discovery, 
by the late George Smith, of the Chaldean account of 
the Deluge, in the year 1872. Hitherto the study of the 
cuneiform records had been confined to a small band of 
English and Continental scholars; and the few historical 
records, which afforded synchronisms with the Hebrew 
records, such as the mention of the tribute of Jehu on the 
famous Black Obelisk in the British Museum, or the 
account given by Sennacherib of his siege of Jerusalem 
in the reign of Hezekiah, had excited some considerable 
interest among Biblical students : but the idea that Assyrian 
literature would become an important factor in Hebrew 
criticism was not even suggested. The discovery of the 
Deluge tablet with its striking parallelisms to the Biblical 
accounts was an epoch-marking event. By the orthodox 
it was hailed as a most startling confirmation of the 
Hebrew record, and duly discounted as such. Still further 
hopes were raised when, a few years later, the brilliant 
discoverer published his fragments of the Babylonian 
Creation legends. It was now recognized that there were 
most striking and close affinities between the Hebrew and 
Assyrio-Babylonian primitive traditions. 

The first and most important result of these discoveries 
was the birth of a new branch of Biblical study, that of 
Biblical Archeology, and with astonishing rapidity works 
began to appear, pointing out the astonishing confirma- 
tions of the Hebrew records which were now to be found 
in the Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions. These works 
did a certain amount of good by directing the attention 
of students to the rich material that was now accessible 
for study, but at the same time this good was materially 
depreciated by the conspicuous absence of any critical 
faculty in the work of comparison. The Biblical element 


PREFACE xi 


was always predominant, and the referendum of all outside 
material. The Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch was 
enunciated as a proved fact, and therefore all the Assyrian 
and Babylonian material was merely of a confirmatory 
nature—no suggestion that it was rather of the nature of 
original could be entertained. 

The rise of Higher Criticism on the Continent and in 
this country has, however, effected a strange change, and 
one which has also had a corresponding development in 
Assyriology. Just as it is now clearly demonstrated that 
the Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch is no longer tenable, 
so also is it shown that the literature of Babylonia, of which 
that of Assyria was but a later edition, has an antiquity 
exceeding, by more than a thousand years, that of the 
Mosaic age. The immense number of religious and 
poetical inscriptions obtained from the buried libraries of 
Chaldea, enable us to trace the growth and development 
of the literature of those ancient people, in a manner not 
to be met with in that of any other ancient nation. 

The labours of Wellhausen and Haupt on the Conti- 
nent, and Cheyne and Driver in this country, and especially 
those of the late Professor Robertson Smith, have shown 
that, like all other Oriental literature, that of the Hebrew 
people was capable of being analyzed, and shown to be, 
not a series of concrete works, each to be assigned to a 
definite epoch, but that in most cases the works had 
undergone several editings, and that the Pentateuch and 
many of the other books of the Old Testament were a 
mosaic of fragments of varying authorship and date. To 
the ordinary and unprejudiced reader of the English 
version, this composite character is apparent in the redupli- 
cation of several important events. We have two Creation 
stories, presenting marked variations (Gen. i. and ii.), two 


>on PREFACE 


versions of the Deluge story, two legends of the patriarchs 
and the beginnings of civilization in the times of Cain and 
Seth, three versions of the Ten Commandments (Exod. xx., 
xxxiv., and Deut. v.), and many other such reduplications. 
These repetitions would show at least a diversity of author- 
ship, and a subsequent not too careful editing. 

Such a phenomenon as this indication of varied 
authorship and material might seem to be the result of 
hypercritical analysis were it not that the very same 
features are to be found in Babylonian literature also. 
As I show in dealing with the Creation legends and the 
National Epic, with the incorporated Deluge legend, the 
same blending of material from various schools of religious 
teaching, and an attempted canonical editing about B.c. 
2000, to suit the tenets of the theological college of 
Marduk of Babylon, is clearly to be traced. As in Hebrew 
literature we have the three elements of the Yahavistic 
and Elohistic writers and the priestly editing, so in 
Babylonian we have the theological teaching of the school 
of Ea of Eridu, the older Bel of Nippur, and the final 
composition or editing of these important religious texts 
under the supervision of the priestly school of Marduk 
of Babylon. 

Whatever may be the date of the Hebrew accounts 
both of Creation and Deluge, the Babylonian versions are 
long antecedent to them. The very important opening 
lines of the Code inscriptions of Khammurabi so closely 
resemble a passage in the seventh Creation tablet which 
is a direct product of the teaching of the school of Marduk 
of Babylon that it is evident that it was during the period 
of the first Babylonian dynasty (B.C. 2300-2000) that the 
fusion of the old theological teachings of Eridu and Nippur 
was attempted; but this primitive fusion was no doubt 


PREFACE xiii 


still further completed in Neo-Babylonian times, and it 
is these later documents that would be accessible to the 
Hebrew scribes during and after the age of the Captivity, 
in the libraries of Babylon, Borsippa, and other cities. 
The documents which were used by these first editors 
were, however, much older than the Epic period, and 
certainly some of them were based on Sumerian originals. 
Notice the Sumerian names of Tutu, originally Ea, later 
Marduk in the seventh tablet, and the bilingual Creation 
legend—an undoubted product of the school of Eridu. 
The Dragon Tiamat myth which forms the opening to 
the Babylonian epic can be traced, as I have shown, still 
further back to the old Magical tablets of the Sumerians. 
The engraved seals of the age of Sargon I. of Agade, 
dating "B.C. 3800, have scenes taken from the epic of 
Gilgames, so that the poem must then have been in 
existence, and, as the Deluge tablet forms an episode in 
it, we may reasonably assume that it formed part of the 
then cycle poem. The Deluge story, as I show, like most 
other Babylonian myths, had passed through stages of 
growth and development. Important discoveries in all 
parts of Western Asia, during recent years, have thrown a 
lurid light upon the position of the Hebrew people in the 
drama of Oriental history, and done much to remove them 
from that position of splendid isolation to which they had 
been condemned by the apologetic school of writers. The 
inscriptions of Babylonia show that the position of the 
Hebrews, as the chosen people of Yaveh, was by no means 
unique. Each Oriental nation regarded itself as the chosen 
people of the national god; the Babylonian hymn to 
Marduk speaks of “the people of Babylon whom thou 
lovest,” so the Assyrian speaks of Assur as “the land 
which thou (Assur) lovest.” The Moabite regarded himself 


xiv PREFACE 


as the chosen of Kemosh. It was but the natural con- 
clusion® resulting from a theocratic form of government, 
and all the ancient Oriental kingdoms were theocracies, 
the king being the vice-regent of the national god. This 
form of government was essentially Semitic, and the result 
of the growth of social life from the individual to the 
nation, and the unbroken association between God and 
man. Man was the son of his god, from the god of the 
individual came the tribal or family god, the civic god, 
the national god. Hence’in all the events of social 
development there must be an association with the god. 
We see this clearly in all the early history of Babylonian 
civilization. The first elements of civilization are of Divine 
origin; law is given by God to man, kings derive their 
authority from God. Thus Khammurabi says, “ Ffom the 
people whom Bel entrusted to me to rule I did not with- 
draw myself ;” “I am he whom the gods proclaimed :” and, 
later, Nebuchadnezzar says, “ When Marduk, the great lord, 
had rightly summoned me to direct the land and shepherd 
the people.” This unbroken association between the god, 
the king, and the people, is the essential basis of Semitic 
national life. Hitherto it has been regarded as the sole 
possession of the Hebrew people, and therefrom has arisen 
one of the most striking errors of the apologetic school of 
Biblical expositors, and nothing has done so much to 
render the true study of the growth and development of 
Hebrew literature and civilization impossible. The great 
fault of a certain school of writers has been their total 
inability to distinguish between illustration and evidence. 
Any chance similarity between the Babylonian, Egyptian, 
and other monuments and the Hebrew record is at once 
seized upon as a piece of confirmatory evidence. I may 
instance one striking example of this in the case of 


re 


PREFACE XV 


Melchizedek, the priest-king of Salem, the priest of the 
Most High God (Gen. xiv. 19). We know nothing more 
of this personage, who is made the contemporary of 
Abram, therefore probably about B.C. 2300 according to 
Babylonian records, until, more than two thousand years 
after, a Christian writer, speaking of this tradition, says 
that he was “without father or mother, without genealogy 
or beginning of days, nor end of life” (Heb. vii. 1). Among 
the Tel-el-Amarna tablets were found certain letters from 
the King of Jerusalem, Addi-taba, to Amenophis IV., 
dating therefore about B.c. 1430. In these letters the 
writer says “that not from my father or my mother am I 
king, but from the arm of the king "that is, from the 
Egyptian Pharaoh. There is a gap of some eight or more 
centuries’ between this tablet and the age of Melchizedek, 
fourteen centuries between this record and the Christian 
writer, yet this statement is hailed as a startling con- 
firmation of the truth of the Hebrew writing. This 
is an instance of the confusion between illustration and 
evidence. 

The discovery of the wonderful Code of Laws drawn 
up by the Babylonian King Khammurabi is even more 
important in its bearing on the study of Biblical archeology 
than that of the Deluge or Creation legend, because it 
raises the whole question of the origin of the Mosaic law 
and Mosaic tradition. The amount of energy that has been 
expended on proving the historical accuracy of the ages of 
Joseph and Moses is astonishing ; Professor Sayce, Revs. 
G. Tomkins, and H. M. Mackenzie have all pointed out 
the marvellous Egypticity of these portions of the Pen- 
tateuch. No one can deny this in the case of Joseph: the 
Egyptian references are most accurate both as regards 


names, religious and social customs, etc, but it has, 
b 


Xvi PREFACE 


unfortunately, been pointed out by Mr. Griffith, Professor 
Steindorff, and other Egyptologists, that these all agree 
with the period of the Twenty-second Egyptian dynasty, 
and not with the Hyksos age, to which the episode of 
Joseph in Egypt is assigned. 

The names Potiphar, Potipherah, Asenath,* the title 
Zaphenath-paneah, are all names which belong to the time 
of the twenty-second dynasty, B.C. 977, or even later. The 
“Tale of the Two Brothers,’ so often used as an illus- 
tration of the incident of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, was 
not written until the time of Seti II.; so there again we 
have great discrepancy in age of the authorities compared. 
In regard to the life of Moses, new and important matter 
has now come to light. The life of Moses in Egypt is 
associated with the reigns of Rameses II. and his son 
Seti Meneptah. The chief incidents in the life of the 
Hebrew leader are, his finding in the ark on the waters 
of the Nile by Pharaoh’s, presumably Rameses IL’s, 
daughter ; his flight into Midian, and his infliction of the 
plagues on the land of Egypt; dividing the waters of the 
Red Sea. That the episodes in the life of Moses should 
be assigned to the age of Rameses II. is of great im- 
portance. Among the sons of this prolific Pharaoh, for he 
had some seventy children, was one named Kha-m-was 
(Manifestation, in Thebes). This prince was High Priest 
of Ptah in Memphis, and, according to traditions, a man of 
great learning, and especially addicted to the study of magic. 
Around him there grew up in later times a series of stories 
which were extremely popular among the Egyptians in the 
times subsequent to the twenty-second dynasty, and even 
down to long after the Christian era. In the time of the 


* See Budge, “ History of Egypt,” vol. v. ; Griffith, in “ Archeology 
and Authority,” edited by Hogarth. 


PREFACE Xvii 


twenty-sixth Egyptian dynasty, the magic of Kha-m-tas 
is referred to, and it is to this age that his statue in the 
British Museum is probably to be assigned. 

In the “ Tales of Setme-kha-m-iias,” recently published 
by Mr. Griffith, we have a curious series of wonders asso- 
ciated with this ancient magician, which present a striking 
resemblance to those in the life of Moses. According to 
the story, two Ethiopian magicians had come to the court 
of Egypt to cast spells on the land, and these are the 
threats they use: the first magician says, “I will cast my 
spell upon the land of Egypt, and will cause the people of 
Egypt to pass three days and three nights without seeing 
the light.” The parallel with Ex. x. 21, 23 is almost 
literal. To quote: “The Lord said unto Moses, Stretch 
thy hands toward Heaven, and there shall be darkness 
over the land of Egypt ; and there was darkness in the 
land of Egypt for three days.” The next extract also 
presents a curious agreement with the Hebrew accounts. 
The mother of one of the Ethiopian magicians, after warn- 
ing them of the skill of the Egyptian wise men, says, “Set 
some sign between me and thee. Should it be that thou 
failest, I will come to thee that I may help thee.” Her son 
then says, “If it happen that I be overcome, the waters 
shall be made the colour of blood before thee, and the 
foods before thee the colour of flesh, and the heavens shall 
be the colour of blood.” Here we have all the essential 
features of the plague of blood (Ex. vii. 19, 23). It would 
seem as if the writer in Exodus knew of these stories, 
which he used in giving colour to his work. One more 
parallel is to be noted. One magician says, “I will cast 
my magic spell upon the land of Egypt, and will not allow 
the land to be fertile for three years.” 

It may be urged that these are but the deeds of Moses 


XViii PREFACE 


which have been woven into the cycle of legends round 
Kha-m-tias. There is, however, an answer to this. The 
defeat of the two Ethiopean magicians is accomplished by 
Se Osiris, the son of Kha-m-ias, who appears at the court 
of Rameses II., but the episode really belongs to the reign 
of Thothmes III. According to the legend, Se Osiris had 
lived in a former life at the time of Thothmes III. as Hor, 
the Son of the Negro. At that time the two Ethiopian 
magicians had come to cast magic on Egypt, and had been 
defeated by him as Moses defeated Jannes and Jambres. 
The resemblance to Moses is very striking, and when one 
of the magicians taunts the victorious Hor in the words, 
“Art thou not Hor, the son of Negro, whom I took from 
the reeds of Ra (Nile) ?” we are reminded of the finding 
of Moses. This episode has been sometimes compared 
to the story of Sargon of Agade being placed by his 
mother in an ark or basket on the Euphrates, but I am 
inclined to regard this as doubtful. Other episodes found 
their counterpart in the magical fiction of Egypt. The 
flight of Sinhuit from Egypt to Midian, a legend of the 
Twelfth dynasty, where he marries the daughter of the 
local sheik and becomes rich, but eventually returns to 
Egypt and to the court of Pharaoh, has remarkable 
resemblances to the story of the flight of Moses. Lastly, 
the dividing of the waters by magicians, and heaping of 
them up like a wall, occurs in the West Car papyrus, and 
in the first of the stories of Setme Kha-m-uas. It is then 
in the popular folk literature of Egypt that we find 
parallels to most of the episodes in the life of Joseph and 
Moses, and most of these works belong to the period 
between the Twenty-second and Twenty-sixth dynasties, 
B.C. 977-064. During the age of Solomon and Rehoboam 
the intercourse with Egypt was close, and, indeed, until 


PREFACE Beek 


the Assyrian power became dominant, it existed ; it was 
probable, therefore, that many of these stories would be 
known among the learned in Palestine, and hence the 
local colouring of the age of the bondage and deliver- 
ance which we find in the Pentateuch was adopted from 
them. 

I now come to the most important episode in the 
life of the Hebrew law-giver—the giving of the Law on 
Sinai. 

The very pertinent question was once asked by the 
late M. Renan, “ Was the law given upon Sinai because 
Sinai was holy, or was Sinai holy because the law was 
given there?” Recent researches, as I have shown 
(Chap. III.), have proved that to both the Egyptians and 
the Babylonians, both Sumerians and Semites, Sinai was 
a holy land. To the former it was the special fief of the 
goddess Hathor and her consort, the hawk god Supt; 
while to the Semites of Babylonia it was probably 
associated with Sin, the moon god, “a lord of law” 
(del teritz), from which the mountain derived its name. It 
is not improbable that the pre-Israelitish population of 
Palestine looked upon this region of wild mountain and 
desert, the region of storms and thunders and lightnings, 
as the abode of some mighty Desert god. 

The code of Khammurabi, however, affords us some 
clue to this belief in an ancient law given to man by God, 
and especially a god associated with the holy mountain. 
The old Sumerian God of laws was the god Mullil, the 
older Bel of the Semites, whose sacred city was Nippur, 
and whose temple was E-Kur, “the Mountain House,” 
deriving its name from the Mountain of the World, on 
which Bel held his court. Now, Bel it was who wore on 
his breast the “tablets of law and destiny,” by wiich he 


SOK PREFACE 


ruled all things, and cast the destinies of gods and men. 
These tablets were the special insignia of divine power 
and supremacy, and the possession of them confirmed 
these attributes on the possessor. In the Creation Epic 
we find Tiamat conferring them upon Kingu, his spouse, 
from whom they are taken by Marduk. There is, however, 
a very interesting legend associated with these tablets in 
Babylonian mythology. The tablets of destiny were 
stolen from the god Bel by Zu, the Storm god, who takes 
and carries them away to his mountain of storms, and 
there he retains them amid the storms and thunders and 
lightnings. At last Marduk goes and brings them down 
from the mountain, and restores law and order to the 
gods. In this legend I believe we have the basis of the 
story of the giving of the Law on Sinai, or on the Mountain 
of God. As Khammurabi states that he received his laws 
direct from the Sun god—a statement that is not in a 
strict sense true, for the laws he proclaims had been in 
use long before his time—so the later Hebrew writers, 
in order strictly to connect the Law with Yaveh, borrowed 
and adapted the story of Zu, the Storm god, whose 
theophany resembled that of the God of Sinai. 

The discovery of the Tel-el-Amarna Tablets have 
shown that the influence of Babylonia had been pre- 
dominant over Canaan for many centuries. The scribes 
in most of the towns were acquainted with the cuneiform 
writing, and if so, the literature of Babylonia was known to 
them. If the writing was used for diplomatic purposes, 
it must also have been used for commercial purposes, 
Now, during the rule of the first Babylonian dynasty, of 
which Khammurabi was a member, and probably for some 
time after, their influence continued, certainly until many 
a century before the age of Joshua. It is, therefore, more 


PREFACE XXi 


than probable that the laws embodied in the code of 
Khammurabi were current in Canaan. If Babylonian 
myths, such as those which the Hebrews adopted in the 
story of Samson or Saul and the witch of Endor, had 
become known in Palestine, surely so great and so simple 
and so suitable a code of laws must have been known 
throughout the whole of Western Asia. The earliest 
Hebrew code is that of a settled people; its verbatim 
agreements with the Babylonian code are so close as to 
admit of no explanation other than an adaptation by the 
Hebrews of a code which they had found in use, and 
such a code would have no vazson @étre in the wilds of 
Sinai. 

The civilization which the Hebrews found in Canaan 
was essentially Babylonian; and most of the surrounding 
nations had derived their culture from the same source. 
The culture of Phoenicia, which first made itself felt in 
Jerusalem in the age of Solomon, and later in that of 
Ahab, was essentially Babylonian. The temple of Solomon 
might have been one erected by a Babylonian or an 
Assyrian king; for its arrangements, including the two 
tree pillars and the sea, or laver, are the same both in names 
and plan. 

This indirect contact with the civilizations of the 
Tigro-Euphrates Valley continued until the fall of Jeru- 
salem, and the foundation of many religious traditions 
and civil laws and customs was laid. During all this 
period, however, the Hebrews lacked one great quality of 
true national life—a true and deep belief in the theocratic 
power of the national god. 

The Captivity—if such it can be called—in Babylonia 
consolidated all these isolated elements, and produced the 
greatest renaissance the world has ever seen. In Babylonia, 


Xxii PREFACE 


with its marvellous system of religious and political centrali- 
zation, the Jew saw the true secret of national life. The 
god was one with the nation, his city and temple were the 
life and heart of the nation, and from him law and order 
must come. There it was that the old fragments were 
revised and edited, the national literature constructed so 
as to have a continuity of tradition extending back to 
the childhood of the nation, and once for all and for ever 
Israel became a nation ruled by a theocracy which has 
never ceased to exist. 

The monuments have, as I say, removed the Hebrew 
from the isolated position in which he has hitherto been 
placed. He is no longer a mere figure in the drama of 
old-world history; he has his part, and an important 
one, mingling with the crowd of Egyptians, Babylonians, 
and Assyrians upon the stage—a real and intensely 
important character, above all intensely human, no longer 
a mere automaton, but a being of like passions with 
ourselves. 

In this work I have endeavoured to show how fully 
we can reconstruct the beginnings of civilization in Western 
Asia, and to what an antiquity we must look for the dawn 
of civilization. Much has been done, but much remains 
to be done, and the solution of many problems of the 
utmost importance to the true understanding of the child- 
hood of the human race still lies buried beneath the 
mounds of the Chaldean plain. 

In the chapter on Egypt and Chaldea I have endea- 
voured to show that there are many indications of a contact 
at a very early period between the civilization of the Nile 
and the Tigro-Euphrates Valley. My remarks must, how- 
ever, be considered more of the nature of suggestions 
than as the statement of a definite fact, and each year’s 


PREFACE XXili 


work in these two fields of archzological research supplies 
new and important material for consideration. 

In conclusion, I must thank Mr. James Kennedy for 
the valuable assistance he has given me in the difficult 
field of Mohammedan law, and for the time and trouble 
he has expended in reading a large portion of the proofs 
of the work The maps were drawn by Mr. W. W. 
Woodrow, of the Library of the British Museum. 


“EX ORIENTE LUX.” 


CONDE NES 


CHAPTER 


I. THE LANDS OF NIMROD 
II. BEGINNINGS OF BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 
ii EeG VP AND CHAT DEAS 
IV REE ClhYe KINGDOMS = 
V. THE GARDEN OF THE ORIENT 
VI. “KHAMMURABI THE GREAT” 
Vil. “THE CODE OF KHAMMURABI” 
VIII. “LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 
IX. THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 


APPENDIX A. BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN ART IN 
RELATION TO EGYPT 


APPENDIX B. FOUNDATION CEREMONIES 
APPENDIX C. THE LEGEND OF DEATH 


APPENDIX D. THE DELUGE LEGEND 


INDEX 


isl ‘OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Khammurabi receiving the Laws . 


Geological Map 
Canal at Busra 


Inscription of Karibu-Sa-Susinak 


Inscription of Anu-Banini 
Sumerian Head 

Early Elamite Head 
Kileh-Shergat, ASsur 
Istar of Nineveh 
Tel-el-Amarna Tablets 
Statue of Gudea 

Cave Drawings from France 
Drawing of Urnina 
Oldest Bill in the World 
Pictorial Characters 
Citadel Mound of Susa 
Fish-headed God . 
Block of Pillars, Tello . 
Shepherd and Dogs 
Musical Instruments 
Figures of Fire-god 
Pyramid of Medum 
Flint Tools from Egypt 
Bird’s Nest and Basket 
Basket from Nippur 


PAGE 
| Mem de la Delegation en 
Perse, Pl, IV. . Frontispiece 
3 
8 


Mem de la Delegation en 

{ RerseyPla ls ' = lO: 
De Morgan Mission en Perse 12 
Photo, Eyre & Spottiswoode 14 


15 

: : ‘ : : 19 

Photo, Mansell & Co.. 23 

Photo, Eyre & Spottiswoode 38 

Harper’s Magazine. fe 

45 

a tae tak erie ia ak 
From Drawing and Cast . A 

57 

i j : ‘ ; a Re 

Photo, Mansell & Co, OS 

Harper's Magazine . el 

Drawing . : ; os 

Harper's Magazine . oe 

» 9 : Os 

89 

9I 

Drawing . : : E 2 

S AL Se Re MO ES tok: 


XXVIl 


XXViili List OF 
Royal Tomb of Nagada 
Tomb of Mer Neit 

Building of Ur Nina 
Staircase of Den 

Staircase at Eridu 

Chaldean Seal, B.c. 3800 


Clay Seals of Ka, 1st Dynasty 


Egypt 
Early Babylonian 350, 
Stele of Per-ab-Sen 
Stele of Meti-Sikhu 
Demon of South-west Wind 
Chaldean Tomb from Mughier 
Babylonian Funeral Couch . 
Obelisk of Manistu-su 
Tel-Edé, or Marad 
Brick Stele of E-anna-du 
Mace-head of Sargon 
Stele of Naram-Sin from Susa 
Royal Group on Stele . 
Mughier—Ur 
Statue of Ur-bau 
Palace of Gudea 
Plan of the Palace of era 
Plans on Statue of Gudea 
Wooden Sickle (Egypt), 1 
Sheep’s Jaw-bone, 2 
Surveys of Estates : 
Cadastral Survey of Estate . 
Corn Return, B.C. 2500 . 
Inventory of Cattle 
Cattle from Babylonian Seal 
Tools from Egypt and Chaldea 
Portrait, Khammurabi . 
Ruins of Temple of Bel 
Bronze Figure 
Cylinder of Eri-aku 
Assyrian Winged Bull . 


ut 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


De Morgan 
Petrie, “ Royal Tombs” 


Drawing . 
” 


Petrie, “ Royal Tombs 


Drawing . 
Petrie, “ Royal Tombs” 
Private Photo 


Drawing . 


Delegation en Perse, Pl. I. . 
Drawing . 

Photo, Mansell e Co, 
Delegation en Perse, Pl. II. . 
Photo (private) . 

Harper's Magazine 


Drawing, W. St, C. B, 
Photo, Mansell & Co, 
British Museum, Inscriptions 
Drawing . 

Photo, Mansell & Co, 

Old Drawing 

Drawing . : 
Photo, Lyre & Spottirauonee 


as ” ” 


PAGE 
96 
97 
97 
98 
99 

100 


IOI 


103 
104 
104 
108 
II4 
116 
121 
123 
126 
128 
129 
130 
132 
133 
136 
137 
138 
143 
143 
145 
149 
150 
152 
153 
161 
163 
164 
175 
176 
187 


ist OF TELUSTRATIONS XXix 


PAGE 
Tablet of Domestic Laws. : Photo, Mansell & Co. Ae 
Demons Fighting . é : ” » > . 267 
Seal of Epic Figures, B.c. aio 2 Drawing . : : 277 
Gilgames and Lion (Seal) . ‘ Photo, Eyre & Spottis oe 278 
Gilgames (Nimrod) . E : Photo, Girandon : > 285 
Gates of Heaven and Sun-god_ Photo, Eyre & Spottiswoode 285 
Deluge Tablet (Obverse) . : = = ~ 286 
# » (Reverse). : 5 8 > ” 287 
Samas Napistiinhis Ark . ‘ ; 3 288 
First Creation Tablet . : : % ” 3 293 
Second Creation Tablet : : > = a 295 
Seventh Creation Tablet : : > = -: 308 
Birs Nimroud : : : : Drawing . ‘ 2 310 
Fifth Creation Tablet . : : Photo, Eyre & spt woode 313 
Nebo, the Scribe-God . : : Photo, Mansell & Co. - 316 
Slate Tablet from soca 
of Narmer . : ; : : : 2 320 
Fragment of Slate Tablet with t P.S.B.A., Vol. XXIL. . ee 
Vultures 
Portions of halen Stele of t Haier Mancinee EX 
the Vultures . wes a ee 
Funeral Couches from Aby flog : Petrie, “ Royal Tombs” 326 
Foundation Stone of Assurbani-pal : : : : - e327, 
Babylonian Bronze Funeral Tablet Drawing . 333 


THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


CHAPTER I 
THE LANDS OF NIMROD 


“And it came to pass, as they journeyed in the east, that they 
found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there.”—GEN. xi. 2. 


HE civilization of Chaldea, like that of the sister 
empire of Egypt, found its cradle in a great 
alluvial basin, a river-born land, a region where 
nature seemed, as it were, to have made ample preparation 
for the advent of man. The rich and fertile valley, which 
breaks the broad belt of desert which stretches across Asia 
from the Mediterranean to the Yellow Sea, is the basin of 
two great rivers to which the fertile delta—which became 
the site of the Babylonian Kingdom—owes its existence. 
It was a region well calculated to attract settlers. To the 
west the arid wastes of Arabia, to the east the desert 
plateau of Persia, Luristan, Kurdistan rising step by step 
to the tableland of Central Asia— the womb of nations,” 
as Sir Henry Rawlinson aptly styled it—this oasis would 
naturally seem a veritable “garden of the gods” to those 
who journeyed thither. 

The two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, both rise in 
the mountains of Armenia, and within a short distance of 
each other. 

B 


2 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


The two streams differ from each other considerably ; 
the Euphrates, after a considerable bend westward, enters 
a tolerably lofty steppe, where the uniform surface is 
broken by ridges of rock, by ranges of hills, pastures, and 
fruitful strips of land, while the banks of the river are 
overgrown with forests of plane trees, tamarisks, and 
cypresses, and shut in by fertile meadows. When the 
Euphrates has left the high land, at a place where the two 
rivers approach each other most nearly, and at a distance 
of about 400 miles from their mouths, the plain of rich 
alluvial soil commences. Theline of demarcation between 
the alluvial and secondary formation is very clearly 
marked—as commencing at Hit on the Euphrates, and 
Samarah on the Tigris. From this point the difference 
between the two rivers is most clearly to be seen. The 
Euphrates has a slow course, often spreading its waters 
over the low-lying banks; but the Tigris, the fall in whose 
bed is considerably steeper than that of the Euphrates, 
rushes rapidly to the sea, its own volume being augmented 
by the tributaries from the Persian Apennines. Although, 
unlike the Nile, there is no regular annual inundation, 
both streams, flooded by the melting of the snows of the 
Armenian and Persian mountains, overflow their banks 
during the summer. 

The inundation commences in the Tigris about the 
beginning of June; in the Euphrates about the beginning 
of July. These inundations, now uncontrolled by canals 
and embankments, as in ancient times, often do more 
harm than good, and those of the Tigris especially often 
turn the whole of the marshy regions of the Afadj into 
a rolling sea. In ancient times, when the dams, reservoirs, 
and canals were carefully preserved, these life-giving waters 
were distributed over the land in just proportion, and the 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD 3 


fertility of the land immensely increased. The growth 
of the alluvial in Chaldea has been very rapid, and accurate 
observations show that the present rate of increase is 


AOriginal River Mout: 
Bloasslinein BC E9F 


longitude fast 4% from Greenwich 


GEOLOGICAL MAP. 


about one mile in seventy years; while it is the opinion 
of those best qualified to judge that the average progress 
during the historic period was as much as a mile in thirty 
years. There is every reason to believe that in the early 


4 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


days of the Chaldean Empire the Persian Gulf extended 
at least 120 miles further inland. The annals of Sennac- 
herib throw some considerable light upon this subject, for 
at the time of his campaign against Bit Yakin, on the 
Elamite shores of the Persian Gulf, the two rivers entered 
the gulf by separate mouths, as did also the Karun and 
the Kerkha.* From the evidence of the inscriptions, it 
is clear also that both Eridu (Abu Sharain) and Ur 
(Mughier) were in ancient times close to the sea, from 
which they are now more than a hundred miles distant. 
The fact that in remote geological times the whole of 
Lower Babylonia, as far inland as a line drawn from Hit 
to Samarah, that is, a distance of about 400 miles from 
the present mouth of the Shal-el-Arab, was under sea, is 
clearly indicated by the formation of the country. The 
rapid growth of the alluvial deposits drove the waters of the 
eulf back, and formed a rich and fertile plain; but traces 
of the old sea-bed remain in low sandy and pebbly ridges, 
which rise above the surface of the plain. “To-day,” 
says Dr. Hilprecht,f ‘‘such enormous sandhills are found 
in several districts of Iraq, notably in the neighbourhood 
of Jokha, Warka (Erech), Tel Ibrahim (Kutha), and Nuffar 
(Nippar), and Abu Hubba (Sippara).” These heaps 
were known to the ancient Babylonians by the name 
of Tul Abubi (“mounds of the deluge”), and this name 
is of particular interest. The alluvial belt extends to 
the foot of the Persian mountains, the ancient Susiania 
through which the Karun, Kerkha, and Dizful flow. The 
explorations of M. de Morgan at Susa, and among the 
prehistoric settlements at Poucht-e-Kouh, show that these 


* See lines on Geological Map ; this expedition was undertaken in 
B.C. 695. 
+ Hilprecht, “ Explorations in Bible Lands,” p. 41. 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD 5 


highlands were occupied by man in early neolithic and 
possibly paleolithic times, and therefore man then looked 
down upon a vast gulf covering the land that afterwards 
became the Elamite and Babylonian plains. It was the 
tradition of this submergence, no doubt, which lived on, 
and out of which grew the legend of the Deluge. Just 
as we find the tradition of the extinct monsters of the 
tertiary age surviving in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, 
in the gigantic serpents and composite animal forms, so the 
submergence of the lowlands of Mesopotamia lived on in 
the myth of the Deluge. 

Like the Nile valley, especially Lower Egypt, this 
acquired land, the gift of the two rivers, was in every way 
favourable to the development of national life. Naturally 
fertile, it became ten times more so with the slightest 
assistance from the hand of man. All the writers of 
antiquity are unanimous in praising the fertility of this 
plain. Berosus, Herodotus, Xenophon, all speak with 
astonishment of its wealth of wheat, barley, sesame, dates, 
and other fruits. The testimony of Herodotus may be 
taken as the best evidence. He says (I. 193), “Of all 
countries that we know, there is none which is so fruitful 
in grain. It makes no pretension, indeed, of growing the 
fig, the olive, or the vine, or any other trees of the kind, 
but in grain it is so fruitful as to yield commonly two 
hundred-fold, and when the production is greatest, even 
three hundred-fold. The blade of the wheat plant and 
barley is often four fingers in breadth. As for millet 
and the sesame, I shall not say to what height they grow, 
though within my own knowledge; for I am not ignorant 
that what I have already written concerning the fruitful- 
ness of Babylonia must seem incredible to those who 
have never visited the country. . . . Palm trees grow in 


6 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


great numbers over the whole of the flat country, mostly 
of the kind that bears fruit, and this fruit supplies them 
with bread, wine, and honey.” 

The statements of Herodotus and the other classical 
writers are fully endorsed by the evidence of the monu- 
ments. The large number of revenue tablets in the 
British Museum, dating from the time of the Second 
Dynasty of Ur (about B.C. 2500), and more ancient inscrip- 
tions, such as the obelisk of Manistu-su, show the immense 
corn-producing power of the land. The forfeits in the 
code of Khammurabi show the estimated yield of land 
was 6 gur (48 bushels) per gaz (feddan). The feddan was 
about one acre and a ninth, thus the yield would be 47-48 
bushels peracre. In the time of Manistu-su eight bushels of 
corn could be purchased for a silver shekel. Ccern was not 
only the staple food of Babylonia, it formed the com- 
mercial standard by which the price of all commodities was 
estimated. This fact is proved by the ideogram for price 
(stm), which is Xisw-*e, composed of & + >] + =~ 
(corn measure), which indicates a corn tariff. The great 
corn-growing area of Babylonia was in the south, with Larsa, 
Erech, Sirpurra, and Nippur as the chief centres. There 
was a considerable interchange of commodities between 
north and south, the former exchanging sheep, wool, cattle, 
etc., for corn and dates with the latter. Among the tablets 
found at Tello are some inventories of articles sent from 
the north to the south dated in the reign of Sargon I. 
(B.C. 3800).* These give an idea of the wealth of the land. 
One of these letters mentions two oxen and seven asses, 
which were sent by boat from Agade to Sirpurra, and the 
writer states that there is sufficient fodder in the boat for 
the animals. Another mentions 1540 sheep and 854 goats 


* Thureau Dangin, “Tab. Chald. Inedit.,” No 35. 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD " 


as being sent. The corn mostly being exported from the 
south to the north, we do not find many records, but one 
tablet records 1720 gur as being sent from Agade—that 
would be 13,760 bushels. These ancient documents, then, 
amply confirm the statements of the classical writers as 
to the wealth of the Chaldean plain. Among other objects 
mentioned on these tablets we have dates, sesame, honey, 
milk, butter, wool, various woods. An interesting point 
in regard to these tablets is the frequent mention not 
only of silver, but also of gold, which is rarely found on 
tablets of a later date. Sargon, and Naram Sin, his son, 
had widely extended the power of the Chaldean Empire. 
Elam, as we know from both Babylonian records and the 
inscriptions and sculptures found at Susa, had been 
conquered, and the Chaldean forces had penetrated into 
the Persian mountains as far as Apirak, or Mal Amir, 
the Khalpirti of the Susanian inscriptions. Westward 
most important conquests had been made. Magan, or 
Sinai, with its stone quarries and copper mines, had been 
conquered, and Milukha, or Midian, with its stores of 
alluvial gold, had been annexed. 

The following appears to be a list of offerings sent by 
the King, Queen, Viceroy, and other officials to the temple 
of Nin Sugir, or possibly the goddess Bau :— 


(One) mana of gold. One fat goat. 

(One) Ox. Seven fat sheep. 

One fat ox. (The Queen (Lady).) 

One lamb. 

19 (20-1) fat sheep. Half a mana of gold. 
(The King.) Two fat sheep. 


(Udu Lumir.) 
Half a mana of gold. 


One fat bull. Half a mana of gold. 
One lamb. Two fat sheep. 
@neve- (The Patesi (Viceroy).) 


8 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


By nature prolific, the land became tenfold more so 
when man began to cultivate it, to regulate the water- 
supply, and to store and distribute the fertilizing fluid 
over the land. The earliest inscriptions we possess, those 
of the kings of Sirpurra or Tello, relate to the making 
of canals, tanks, and dams to regulate or store the water, 
and hence we find the agricultural wealth of the country 


CANAL AT BUSRA. 


vastly increased. No nation of the ancient world ever 
attained to such a high state of perfection in agriculture 
as the Sumerian population of Babylonia; and as early 
as B.C. 4500 we find a system of cadastral survey and 
land valuation, a fiscal system never changed in later 
times in use, all of which presupposes centuries of 
growth and development. Some idea of Babylonia 
in its most flourishing period can be gained from the 
better cultivated portions of the land at the present 
time. 

Of the countries associated with Babylonia in ancient 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD 9 


times the most important was that of Elam, or “the 
Highland,” the kingdom which occupied the western 
slopes of the Luristan mountains, and the fertile plain 
between them and the Tigris. It was, as I have already 
said, a region partly of alluvial origin, its rich soil being 
composed of the deposits from the rivers whose head- 
streams were in the highlands of Western Persia. Through 
this region flowed the Karun, the Dizful, the Kerkha, and 
the Dyala. This region, the modern Khuzistan, is still 
one of the most fertile provinces of the Persian Empire, 
and in ancient times it must have been a serious rival 
of the Chaldean plain in fertility. Rich in corn, and 
probably, as De Morgan, De Candole,* Dr. Schweinfurt, 
and others agree, the indigenous home of wheat ; it was 
probably, as the prehistoric harvest settlements at Susa 
show, cultivated before Babylonia. On higher ground, 
with a cooler climate than the plains of Chaldea, 
the vine and the olive and other fruit-trees flourished, 
while the hills were covered with oaks, firs, and other 
valuable trees. It was in this region that the vine 
was first cultivated, and the tradition seems to be 
preserved in the Hebrew story of Noah’s vineyard 
(Gen: ix. 20). 

In the genealogies preserved in the Bible, Elam is 
classed as Semitic (Gen. x. 22), together with Assyria. 
This classification is rather linguistic than ethnic, but 
recent discoveries have shown that the earliest Elamite 
inscriptions were modelled on those of Babylonia, and 
written both in Sumerian and Semitic Babylonian. It 
is unfortunate that we are as yet unable to fix any 
definite date for these inscriptions, although the archaic 


* De Morgan, “ Recherches sur les Origines de l’Egypte,” tom. ii. 
pp. 40-46. De Candole, ‘ The Migration of Plants.” 


10 THE FIRST OF EMPIREae 


character of the writing would lead us to assign them 
to a period between 3000 and 2000 B.C. It would seem, 
as Dr. Schiel suggests, that the art of writing and the 
formula of the inscriptions were introduced into Elam 
from Babylonia—-perhaps about the time of the first 


INSCRIPTION OF KARIBU-SA-SUSINAK. 


Babylonian dynasty ; but during the time of Sargon I. 
and Naram Sin the Babylonian influence must have been 
fairly considerable. 

Among the inscriptions found at Susa are several 
which are exactly like those of the Babylonian viceroys. 
As an example, I may quote the inscription on a brick of 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD II 


Ardu-Naram Susinak (the servant beloved of the god 


Susinak). 


It reads *=— 


“To the god Susinak his lord for the life of Idadu, the 
viceroy of Susa, Wardu-Naram Susinak, son of Kal-Rukhuratir, 
the walls with bitumen of old were not cemented, new walls 
with earth a princely house, after him he has made, and 
for his life t he has caused it to be made.” 


This inscription is pure Semitic Babylonian, as is the 


name of 
offering. 


the man, who dedicates his work as a votive 


Among the inscriptions from Susa is a very long and 
interesting tablet of Karibu-Sa-Susinak (favourite of 


Susinak), 


which is modelled on Babylonian lines. It is 


in columns; the first one, which is mutilated, can be easily 
restored from other inscriptions of this king. 


Col. I. 


Col. II. 


Gol! VI. 


To Susinak his lord Karibu Sa Susinak, viceroy of 
Susa, son of Simbi ?—Iskhug? viceroy of Susa, 

High priest of the land of Elam, 

When for the citadel its gate he had made, for the 
gate of Susinak his lord. 

Then also the canal of Sidaur he opened, 

His seat before it he placed, and its gate with planks 
of cedar wood he made. 

One sheep for the interior—one sheep for the approach 
(as offerings) each day he appointed. 

With music the men of the city as a festival day 

shall make, and shall cause songs to be sung. 

Twenty measures of pure oil he gave to make bright the 
gate. 

Four silver #zagz he gave 

An incense censer of silver and gold for a sweet 

odour, he gave 

A great sword he gave, an axe with four blades and 
decorated them with silver.... 


* Schiel, “Textes Elamite Semitique,” tom. ii. p. 72. 
+ “ Ana balatu su” is the usual votive formula of Babylonia. 


12 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


The inscription concludes with an invocation calling 
down the curses of Susinak, Samas, Bel, Ea, Sin, and other 
gods on those who injure this decree. 

Another remarkable monument of the early Semitic 


ij. 
Mf 


Pen v Gi} 
a 
St Mi /) ‘\ 


l, Ue wf , 
Ties ae, MY, es 


Lee oe th > MSG 


ROCK SCULPTURE OF ANU-BANINI. 


dominion in Elam and the adjacent lands is the fine stele 
found at Zohab in the Luristan mountains, which was set 
up by Anu-Banini, King of the Lulubini. 

Here both the art of the sculptor and the text of the 
accompanying inscription are copied from the Babylonian. 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD 13 


The inscription, which is much mutilated in some places, 
reads— 


“ Anu-banini, the mighty King, the King of Lulubi, who 
his statue, and the statue of Nini (Istar) on Mount Batir 
caused to be set up. 

Whosoever these figures, and this written tablet shall 


obliterate, 
(May) Anu and Anunit and Bel and Beltis, Adad, Istar, and 
Samas, . . . the god of battle curse him with an 


evil curse. Destroy his seed, and from the upper sea, to 
the lower sea of the Ocean, his ancestors and his offspring 
obliterate.” 


The fact that these inscriptions were placed in public 
places, and written in a Semitic language, would certainly 
indicate that there was a population of Semites to read 
them, and it was the knowledge of this fact which led the 
Hebrew writers to class Elam among the descendants of 
Shem. 

The discoveries made by M. de Morgan at Susa have 
added much to our knowledge of the history of Elam, but 
the problem is still far from being solved. The history 
may be divided into three periods— 

(1) The Semitic period, when Babylonian influence 
was very powerful from about B.C. 3800-2000. 

(2) The Kassite period (B.C. 2000). 

(3) The Anzanite period (B.C. 750 to Persian conquest). 

The Kassites, a powerful body of mountaineers, swept 
over Elam and Babylonia, establishing a powerful line of 
kings in the latter kingdom, whose power was not over- 
thrown until the time of the middle Assyrian Empire 
(B.C. 900-700). Inscriptions of victors bearing Kassite 
names, and those of Kassite gods, have been found at 
Susa. The fall of the Babylonian dynasty in B.c. 742 
led to the rise of the Elamite or Anzanian line of kings, 


14 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


whose power rivalled that of Assyria, and whose final 
overthrow was accomplished by Assurbanipal in B.C. 649, 
when he sacked and burnt Susa. The destruction of the 
capital did not, however, obliterate the Anzanian population 
and power, for Cyrus, before his conquest of Astyages, 
claims the title of King of Anzan, and so dominant an 
element was this people 
in the population of 
Elam, that the second 
column of the Persian 
trilingual inscriptions is 
written in a late form of 
their language. 

The type of these 
later Elamites is well 
known to us from the 
Assyrian monuments, 
and it shows a mixed 

SUMERIAN HEAD. race, probably partly 
Semitic, partly blended 

with some of the mountain tribes of Western Persia, the 
ancient Gutium, the Goim of the Hebrews, a body of 
warlike tribes, whose descendants are now represented by 


the Bakhtiaris, among whom the late Sir Henry Layard 
spent several years of his life. 

The language of these later Elamite and Anzanian 
tribes is an agglutinative tongue, with some slight relations 
to the Sumerian, but best classed as an Alarodian dialect. 
The writing, which first appears in Anzanian letters found 
at Nineveh, and probably, therefore, of the time of Assur- 
banipal (B.c. 668-625), is a modification of the cursive 
Babylonian.* 


* See Weissbach, in “‘ Beitrage zur Assyriologie,” Band V. 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD 15 


The next region over which the power of the First of 
Empires was extended was the kingdom of Assyria. The 
Biblical account of the foundation of Assyria (Gen. x. 11) 
clearly makes it a colony from Babylonia, for we read, 
“ Out of that land (Babylonia) he (Nimrod) went forth into 
Assyria, and builded Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir, and 


EARLY ELAMITE OR KASSITE HEAD. 


Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same 
is a great city.” The account is somewhat difficult to 
harmonize with the evidence of the monuments. That 
Assyria, and its ancient capital Assur, was a colony from 
Babylonia, every brick and inscription proves. The 
writing, the religion, the civilization, are all clearly from 
the Southern Empire. The passage becomes more easy 


16 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


of explanation if we revise it to read “and builded 
Nineveh—the city of broad streets*—and Calah, and 
Resen between Calah and Nineveh.” The arrangement of 
the cities then forms in chronological order—Assur, marked 
by the ruins of Kileh-Shergat, on the west bank of the 
Tigris, opposite the mouth of the Lower Zab ; Calah—the 
Kalkhu of the Scriptures—at the junction of the Upper 
Zab and the Tigris ; and Nineveh, at the junction of the 
Khauser and the Tigris opposite Mosul. 

These cities represent three epochs in Assyrian 
history— 

(1) Assur, the Early Empire (B.c. 2300-900). 

(2) Calah, the Middle Empire (B.C. 900-721). 

(3) Nineveh, the Sargonite Dynasty (B.c. 721-625). 

The valuable passage in the opening of the Code 
inscription of King Khammurabi shows that Assur and 
Nineveh were flourishing in his time, and were probably 
ruled by viceroys (fates), appointed by the Babylonian 
king. 

The geographical position of the kingdom of Assyria is 
very important as exercising very considerable influence 
on its history. Considerably higher in elevation than the 
Babylonian plain, the climate was much cooler. On the 
southern edge the tableland of Iran abuts on that of 
Armenia, and then stretching to the south-east, it bounds 
the river valley of the Tigris on the east. From the vast 
successive ranges, the Zagros of the Greeks, flow the 
Lycus and Caprus (Upper and Lower Zab), the Adhim 
and Diala, and many lesser streams. The water which 
these streams convey to the plain between the Zagros and 
the Tigris, together with the elevation of the soil, softens 


*In the Inscriptions of Esarhaddon, “the broad streets” of 
Nineveh are often mentioned. 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD L7 


the heat, and allows olive trees and vines to flourish in the 
cool air on the hill-slopes, sesame and corn in the valleys 
between groups of palms and fruit-trees. The backs of the 
heights which rise to the east are covered with oaks and 
other trees. As we pass south, and nearer the Elamite 
frontier, perhaps the Diala, the plain becomes more level, 
and the soil is little inferior to that of Babylonia in 
fertility. 

In one important feature Assyria differed from Baby- 
lonia. Long chains of hills traversed the plain, and 
stretched here and there, as far as the borders of the 
two rivers; while the last buttresses of the mountains of 
Kurdistan came very near the banks of the Tigris. These 
hills contained limestone of two kinds, one fine, hard, close- 
grained, the other softer, and more friable. In the plains, 
gypsum serves as a foundation for the wide banks of clay 
that spread over the country. Alabaster is to be met with 
in great quantities, often but little below the soil.* 

Not only was a stone suitable for building purposes 
easy to be obtained in Assyria, but wood, limited in 
Chaldea almost entirely to the date-palm, was to be 
obtained from the mountain ranges of Kurdistan and 
Armenia; and at an early period the axe of the Assyrian 
tree-feller was at work among the cedars of Lebanon and 
Amanus. With this wealth of material at hand, we get a 
certain amount of difference between the construction and 
decoration of the palaces of Assyria and those of Chaldea ; 
but not by any means to such a degree as was possible. 
With stone under his very feet, the Assyrian still built his 
palace walls of brickwork, and raised lofty platforms of 
brick and earth like those of the ancient cities of the south, 


* Perrot and Chipiez, “ History of Art in Chaldea and Assyria,” 
vol. i. p. 121. 


6) 


io THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 
a 


instead of choosing, as he might have done, natural eleva- 
tions. The rooms of his palaces were still long, narrow 
galleries, like those of the Assyrian rooms of the British 
Museum. In fact, as MM. Perrot and Chipiez remark, the 
Assyrian palaces, especially the earlier buildings of the 
Midan Empire (B.C. 900-720), bear every appearance of 
having been designed by Chaldean architects. The As- 
syrian civilization was, until almost the last days of empire, 
fa mere veneer, and of a very thin kind. The Assyrian 
never invented anything; not only for its foundation, but 
for its writing, religion, science, and literature, apart from 
history, he was indebted to the Chaldeans. If any other 
proof of the Babylonian origin of Assyria was needed, it 
would be found in the testimony of every brick or edifice 
uncovered by the spade of the explorer. The early history 
of Assyria is still obscure, owing in a great measure to the 
lack of systematic explorations on the older sites, such as 
Kileh-Shergat, the ancient Assur, and the lower strata 
at Nineveh,* but the notices of the land found in the 
Babylonian records confirm the Hebrew writer’s state- 
ment as to its relations with that country. The valuable 
passage in the opening of the code text of Khammurabi 
throws a most important light on this subject. Here 
the king says, “(I am he) who settles the tribes, who 
directs by law, who restored to the city of Assur its 
propitious winged bull, making it bright with splendour. 
The king who, in Nineveh, in the temple of Dub-Dub, 
made splendid the emblems of Istar.” This passage, and 
the reference in one of the royal letters to the removal 
of troops from Assyria, clearly indicate that at the time of 


* A full account of all that is known of Assyrian early history 
is given in “Annals of Assyria,” vol. i., edited by Dr. Budge and 
L. W. King, M.A., and published by the British Museum. 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD 19 


Khammurabi (B.c. 2285) Assyria was a dependency of the 
Babylonian kingdom. This fragment shows that both 
Assur and Nineveh were then founded. No mention is 
made of Calah. The Babylonian origin of the ancient 
capitals of Assyria is best attested by the names them- 
selves, for none of them admit of explanation by Semitic 
philology. In the older inscriptions of the jpatesz, or 
viceroys, who ruled at Assur under their Babylonian over- 
lords, the name of that city is written Ny VF yr HET <EY- 
(4-usar), a compound group, which means in Sumerian 


KILEH-SHERGAT, ASSUR. 


“the city on the waters bank”—a name which well 
describes the situation of Kileh-Shergat, situated on a 
natural eminence above the west bank of the Tigris, 
opposite the mouth of the Lower Zab. 

Another name also of this city, also of Sumerian origin, 
was >>]s >< (Ey. (Pal-bi(kz)), “the dwelling of life ”— 
a name which bears every indication of being derived from 
Babylonia.* Another important point bearing on the 


* In King’s “Seven Tablets of Creation,” p. 199, there is a mytho- 
logical fragment which appears to contain a legend of the foundation 
of Assur. It is very mutilated, but we have mention of Adad, or 
Rimnion, to whom there was a temple in ASsur, later restored by 
Tiglath-pileser I. Here we have small fragmentary lines—“ Ansar 


20 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Babylonian relations is the topographical position of the 
chief Assyrian cities; they succeed one another in chrono- 
logical order from south to north—Assur, Calah, Nineveh 
—which would seem to indicate that they were successive 
stations of a gradual expansion of Babylonian power 
northward. 

Such an expansion certainly took place as early as 
the reign of Sargon of Agade—that is, about B.C. 3800. 
The discoveries at Nippur, Suga, and Sirpurra have amply 
vindicated the historical character of the reigns of Sargon 
and Naram-Sin, and the dates on contracts of his age 
recording expeditions against Elam, Guti, Zakhara, and 
other states, can certainly not be imaginary. In the tablet 
of astronomical omens in the British Museum, relating to 
the reign of Sargon and his son, we have mention of two 
expeditions against Martu or Amurru—that is, Phoenicia 
and Palestine—and Sinai. A statue of Naram-Sin was 
found at Mardin, in Northern Mesopotamia, which would 
seem to indicate arule over that region. It is not, therefore, 
improbable that Assyria was then colonized from the south. 
Naram-Sin is stated to have conquered Subarti—that is, 
Northern Mesopotamia; so his conquering army would 
have passed through Assyria. Another piece of collateral 
evidence as to the connection between Assyria and 
Babylonia during the conquering age of Sargon of Agade 
is found in the fact that Sargon the Tartan, who certainly 


(ASSur) opened his mouth and said,. . . above the deep, the abode 
of (Ea), opposite E. Sara” (there wasa temple called by this name in 
As&Sur) “ which I have created.” A little further on we read, “ Upon 
the earth which thy hands have made . . . raise, and the city of ASsur 
(Pal-bi(k2)) thou shall proclaim its name.” It would seem as if we 
have here an attempt on the part of the Assyrian scribes to build up a 
legend of the divine foundation of ASSur, using the Babylonian creation 
legends as a model. 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD 2a 


bore another name before he came to the throne—possibly 
the Jareb of Hosea v. 15—chose the name of the great 
ethnic hero of the Semites. 

A. mythological poem, which records the exploits of 
the plague-god Ura, or Nerra, gives us a very fair descrip- 
tion of the geographical horizon of the Babylonians in the 
epic age. Where the spread of the epidemic is described, 
and of war and anarchy associated with it, we read— 


“ Thus spake Ura the warrior : 
Sea-coast against sea-coast (Syria), 
Subartu against Subartu (N. Mesopotamia), 
Assyrian against Assyrian, 
Elamite against Elamite, 
Kassite against Kassite, 
Sutu against Sutu (Kurdistan), 
Kutu against Kutu (Luristan), 
Lulubite against Lulubite, 
Country against country, house against house, 
One is to show no mercy to another, 
They shall slay one another.” 


With regard to Nineveh, its Babylonian origin is most 
clearly indicated. The writing of the name with the ideo- 
gram>z]] >7y<] <JE]., literally “fish town,” or “fish dwelling,” 
is the same as that of the fish goddess Nina of Southern 
Chaldea, the daughter of Ea, whose name forms an element 
in that of Ur Nina (“Man of Nina”), one of the oldest 
known rulers of Chaldea. Like most of the female 
divinities of the older empire, the goddess Nina became 
absorbed by the Istar of the northern Semites. To her 
was dedicated one of the quarters of the city of Sirpurra, 
called the city of Nina, a prototype of the Assyrian capital. 
In the inscription of Khammurabi the name of the local 
goddess is written --] ~]J<J (Nini)—that is, Istar. Nineveh 
was essentially the sacred city of Istar, and her temple 


i) 


2 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


was Bit-kitmuri (“the house of war”). There were two 
prominent forms of Istar worshipped in Assyria—the Istar 
of Nineveh and the Istar of Arbela; and both were of 
Babylonian origin. The first, a warlike goddess, a type of 
the old Babylonian Nana of Erech; the latter, a goddess 
of witchcraft and oracles, who resembles the Circe-like 
Istar of the Chaldean epic, who changed her lovers into 
animals, Most of the Assyrian towns had their local 
Istars, resembling the local Madonnas of Spain or Italy. 

The Babylonian affinities of the Ninevite goddess are 
indicated in a most interesting manner in the writings 
of the Hebrew prophet Nahum, who may have been, 
as many writers think, a native of the city of El Kosh, 
near the modern Mosul, and who wrote apparently (vide 
vii. 8) about the time of Assurbanipal. 

The epithets, so bitterly scathing, which the Hebrew 
prophet applies to Nineveh and its patron goddesses 
might be taken verbatim from the cuneiform tablets. 
“Nineveh hath been from old time like a pool of water,” 
seems at once to associate it with the old Sumerian 
goddess Nina, the “lady of the pools and fish-ponds.” The 
curious passage (iii. 7, 8), “ Huzzab is uncovered ; she is 
carried away, and her handmaids mourn as with the voice 
of doves tabering upon their breasts.” The name Huzzab 
seems clearly the Babylonian Lzzdz (“the divorced one”), 
while the reference to the handmaids recalls the two 
attendant maids of Istar of Erech, Samkhat, or Ukhat 
(“pleasure”), and Kharimat (“the devotee”), who figure 
so prominently in the Chaldean epic. While the mourning 
as doves finds its exact counterpart in one of the peni- 
tential psalms, where we read, “How long, O my lady, 
will thy countenance be turned from me? Like doves 
I lament; I weary myself with sighs.’ In a beautiful 


Mansell. 


[Photo, 


NINEVEH. 


tish Museum 


GODDESS ISTAR OF 


) 


Bri 


( 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD a5 


penitential litany addressed to Istar, recently published 
by Mr. King, we have these words— 


“ My heart hath taken wing, and hath flown away like a bird of Heaven 
I mourn like a dove night and day ; 
I am desolate, I weep bitterly. 
With grief and woe; my spirit is distressed.” * 


It would seem as if the Hebrew prophet were drawing 
upon Assyrian literature for his sarcasms. More important 
than these references to the licentious character of the 
worship of Istar are his allusions to her character as a 
goddess of war, for it is in this character that he is most 
prominent in Assyrian literature, and most truly appears 
as the national goddess. 

He cries out, “Woe to the bloody city! it is all full 
of lies and rapine; the prey departeth not. The noise 
of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels ; 
and pransing horses, and jumping chariots ; the horseman 
mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear ; 
and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of carcases ; 
and there is none end of the corpses, because of the multi- 
tude of the whoredoms of the well-favoured harlot, the 
mistress of witchcrafts” (iii. I-5). 

From the hymn already quoted above we have a very 
graphic description of this Assyrian goddess of war. 


“T pray unto thee, lady of ladies, goddess of goddesses, 
O Istar, queen of people, directress of the human race; 
O Irnini, thou art raised on high (as) Mistress of the Spirits of 
Heaven (Angels) ; 
Thou art mighty, thou hast sovereign power, exalted is thy name ; 


* Published by Mr. L. W. King as an appendix to his “Seven 
Tablets of Creation,” vol. i. pp. 222-237, and the text in vol. ii. pl. 
Ixxv. #7 I have given only such extracts as illustrate the words of 
Nahum. 


26 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Thou art the Illuminator of Heaven and Earth, O valiant daughter 
of the Moon-god, 

Ruler of weapons, regulator of battle, 

Who legislates all decrees, wearer of the crown of dominion. 

O lady, brilliant is thy greatness ; over all the gods it is exalted. 

Thou art the cause of lamentation ; thou sowest hostility among 
brethren who are at peace.* 

Thou art the bestower of strength ; 

Thou art strong, O Lady of Victory; thou canst obtain by force that 
which I desire. 

O Gutira, thou who art girt with battle, and clothed with terror. 
(dines I-12.) 

* * * * * * * 
Terrible in the fight, one who cannot be opposed, strong in battle. 
O whirlwind that roarest against the foe, and cuttest off the mighty. 
O furious Istar, who gathers together hosts.” 


It is this furious war goddess who best represents the 
character of the Assyrian nation. War was the life of 
the nation—its sole means of existence. If we read the 
chronicles of the Assyrian kings from the earliest times 
to the fall of the empire, commencing, say, with the cylinder 
of Tiglath-pileser (B.C. 1120), and ending with the great 
cylinder of Assurbanipal (B.C. 625), it is one unending 
chronicle of bloodshed. Only a few examples need be 
quoted— 

“In the fierceness of my valour, for the second time to 
the country of Kummukh I marched. All their cities I 
captured ; their spoil, their goods, their property, I carried 
away. 

“Their cities with fire I burned, threw down, and dug 
up. The remnant of their armies, who, before my mighty 
weapons, were afraid, and fled from the onset of my 
mighty battle, and, to save their lives, sought the lofty 
mountain peaks. (These) in the fastnesses of the lofty 
ranges and the ravines of inaccessible mountains, unsuited 


* Compare Nahum iii. 4, 5. 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD 2 


NI 


to the tread of men, I ascended after. Trial of weapons, 
and combat and battle, they assayed with me. A destruc- 
tion I made of them. The bodies of their warriors in 
the ravines of the mountains, like the inundator Adad 
(Storm-god), I overthrew ; their corpses over the valleys 
and high places of the mountains I scattered.” * 

Throughout the whole of the annals of Assurnazirpal, 
Shalmaneser, and the kings of the Middle Assyrian Empire, 
the same continuous chronicle of war, rapine, fire, sword, 
and massacre is maintained ; and even when we come to 
the more enlightened age of the Sargonide dynasty (B.C. 
721-625) the same details are found best clothed in a 
more finished literary style. 

The cruelties recorded in the inscriptions are repre- 
sented with minutest detail in the sculptures, the piling 
up of corpses, heads, the impalements, mutilations, flayings, 
burnings, etc., being the stock incidents of war employed 
by the sculptors. The bas-reliefs of the Ballawat Gates, 
or the sculptures from Nimroud of ASs8urnazirpal, or the 
Lacish panorama of Sennacherib, may be cited as examples. 
The annual war was the safety-valve of Assyria, no doubt 
having its origin in the tribal g/azz, or raid of the Arabs. 
And a glance at the Eponym Canon, recording the events 
of each year from B.c. 858-704, proves how necessary it 
was to have this annual outlet for the fierce youth of 
Assyria; for wherever there is no war there is trouble at 
home. Still more striking proof of this militarism of 
Assyria is afforded by the records of the lives of the rulers 
of the last dynasty of Assyria, the most civilized period, 
and the age which gave us the best art and literature the 
empire ever produced. Of the four monarchs who com- 
posed the dynasty, one only died a peaceful death. Sargon, 


* Tiglath-pileser I., Cylinder, Col. III. 11-29. 


lo 


Ns: THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


the founder, was assassinated by a soldier in his palace in 
B.C. 7035, and on the 20th day of the month Tebeth (Decem- 
ber), B.C. 681, Sennacherib was slain by his son, and his 
death followed by a revolution. Esarhaddon died a nataral 
death on the roth day of Marchesvan (October), RC 668 ; 
and although we have no record of the death of Assam 
banipal, it was in all probability a violent one Had we 
the chronicles of the reicns of the earlier kings, we should 
no doubt find that many of them ended m a tragedy. 
It is no exaggeration to say that such a palace scene 
as occurred in Belerade a few months ago would have 
excited the people of Nimeveh as little as # did the 
Servians. 

When we contrast the Assyrian with the Semites of 
the southern empire of Babylonia, the differences between 
the two mations is most marked, and at first dificult to 
account for. 

Semite in all ages and all lands assimilate himself to his 
surroundings, the Semite in Babylonia found the outlet 
for his energies m trade. The carly expansion of the 
Babylonian Empire under Sargon and Naram-Sm was as 
much a matter of trade, the opening up of new lands as 
a matter of military policy. Again, the southem Semite 
Sumerian population, and, as the seals of the Sarponide 
period show, the Epic of Gilgames-Nimrod had already 
been composed; and as early as B.C 2500 independent 
Semitic poems were extant As time went on, the 
Babylonian Semites threw themselves heart and soul into 
the pursuit of learning, until by the time of the Araban 
dynasty (RC. 2300), and especially during the reigns 
of Khammurabi and his successors, Babylon became as 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD 29 


great a home of letters, and Borsippa, the Catholic 
University of Western Asia, as Baghdad was under the 
Abbasides. 

With the northern Semites all was different. As I 
have already said, the Assyrians were a race of soldiers, 
and this branch of the Semites found the outlet for their 
hot blood in the annual wars. Instead of trade, tribute and 
plunder supplied their wants. We often hear of Assyrian 
literature, but in a strict sense no such thing existed until 
the last century of the empire. The bare and monotonous 
chronicles of the early and middle empires can in no way 
claim to be literature, and even the best efforts of the 
historians of the time of Sennacherib and Assurbanipal 
do not attain a very high standard. 

The establishment of the royal library at Nineveh, 
probably late in the reign of Assurbanipal, was due to 
no love of literature, but to the exigencies of politics. 
Formerly, all those who would hold state positions, or 
religious offices, were educated in the temple schools of 
the southern land, but the political activity of the Baby- 
lonian priests, and their open support of the Home Rule 
movement represented by Merodach-baladan and other 
Chaldean princes, led to the transference of the seat of 
learning to Nineveh. 

Babylonian influence continued to all time, even to this 
day ; the power of Assyria died for ever with the fall of 
Nineveh. The one was the empire of the pen: the other 
the power of the sword. But there is another element to 
be taken into consideration in explaining this marked 
contrast between Babylonia and Assyria. 

Essentially the Assyrian, by race and language, was a 
Semite ; but an examination of the representation of the 
sculptures show certain differences from the general Semitic 


30 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


type. It must be remembered that there is no such thing 
as an Assyrian portrait. They never made portraits of 
themselves, perhaps on account of the evil eye, for the 
Assyrians were as great believers in the malo occo as the 
Italians ; but there was a type-figure of kings, gods, and 
soldiers. Now, here we have a race that differs from the 
Semite, as represented by Babylonians, Jews, or Arabs in 
the sculptures. The men are taller, more muscular and 
athletic, with dark blue-black beards and hair, as we 
know from some few fragments of coloured sculpture from 
Khorsabad and Nimroud. Here we would seem to have an 
infusion of the mountain races of Kurdistan and Armenia, 
races which now survived in the fierce and bloodthirsty 
Kurd. 

I have dealt thus fully with the Assyrian Empire, 
because I have long been convinced that among the 
general readers a most strangely exaggerated conception 
of the Assyrians and their civilization has existed. 

Passing north-west, we come to a region that was early 
in contact with the land of Nimrod. Between the upper 
course of the Tigris and the Euphrates lay a fertile 
steppe, broken by ranges of hills dividing the basins 
of the Khabur and Belik rivers, and rising gradually as 
we approach the mountains of Western Armenia. This 
region was the Aram Naharaim of the Bible (Judges 
iii. 8), the Nari of the Assyrians, the Naharina of the 
Egyptians. Here in the fifteenth century, in the age 
contemporary with the eighteenth Egyptian dynasty, was 
situated the important Mesopotamian kingdom of Mitanni, 
of which we knew nothing until the discovery of the 
letters of its rulers in the treasury of Khu-en-Aten, or 
Amenophis IV., at Tel-el-Amarna. It must have been 
a kingdom of considerable importance and wealth, for the 


fie LANDS OF NIMROD 31 


kings of Egypt. Amenophis III, and possibly his son, 
Khu-en-Aten, married daughters of the kings of Mitanni; 
and Queen Tie, one of the most powerful female characters 
in Egyptian history, was a daughter of the king DuiSratta. 
The period of the kings of Mitanni, however, is outside of 
the scope of this volume. 

The connection between this region and Babylonia 
probably commenced, like that of Assyria, with the Semitic 
expansion, about B.C. 3800, but at present our records do 
not reach so great an age. The most important city in 
this region was the city of Kharran, a city which also 
figures in the earliest chronicles of the Hebrew people. In 
Genesis xi. we have the record of the migration of the 
Hebrew patriarch from his Chaldean birthplace, Ur of the 
Kasdim—that is, the Sumerian Ur, or Mughier. Ur was 
the chief centre of moon-worship in Babylonia, and 
probably one of the earliest cities in which the Semites 
settled. The moon-cult has left its mark on the Abramic 
genealogies, for of the names, the majority are either lunar 
names, or associated with the moon. 

Terah = Tarakhu (the gazelle, sacred to moon-goddess 
Istar). 

Nahor = Nannar (the name of the moon in Ur and 
Kharran). 

Abram = Abu-ramu (a title of the moon-god). 

Sarah = Sarratu (Queen) Both titles of moon- 

Milcah = Milkatu Neo goddess. 

Laban = Labanu (“the white one”), name of the 
moon-god of Kharran. 

The association between Ur and Kharran which the 
Bible records (Gen. xi. 31, 32) is amply borne out by the 
monuments and by traditions associated with the latter 
city. The modern town of Kharran is situated on the 


32 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


upper waters of the Belik, about seventy miles from where 
it joins the Euphrates, and occupies a curiously central 
position in the area of Northern Mesopotamia, and it is 
about six hundred miles north-west of Ur. <A short 
distance from the modern town are a large group of 
mounds called Eski-Harran (Old Kharran), marking the 
site of the ancient city, and the exploration of them would 
probably produce most important results. There is a 
curious Arab tradition that the city of Kharran was built 
in the shape of a crescent moon, and the configuration of 
the group of mounds bears this out. 

From the earliest times the city was associated with 
moon and star worship, and Sabianism flourished here 
until long after the Christian era. 

The earliest mention of the city occurs in the astro- 
nomical tablets, where it is associated with Sulpa-uddu or 
Mercury, which is called “the star of the men of Kharran.” 
In the inscriptions of the Middle Assyrian empire Kharran 
appears as a halting-place, and we know from the in- 
scriptions of Nabonidus, who restored the temple there, 
that both Shalmaneser and AsS8urnazirpal restored that 
edifice. Sargon II. (B.c. 721) states that he restored the 
“laws and institutions of Kharran,” possibly some local 
code like that of Khammurabi. One interesting historical 
event in connection with Kharran is recorded on a small 
despatch tablet in the British Museum. It was here that 
Esarhaddon decided on making his son regent when he 
started upon his Egyptian war, and died during the cam- 
paign. We are told that he saw the moon with two 
crowns on its head, that is, a double halo, and so he 
decided to have two crowned heads in Assyria. 

The most important inscription relating to Kharran 
is the cylinder of Nabonidus, found at Sippara, in which 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD 33 


he records the restoration of the temple of the moon-god 
there, which had been destroyed by the Scythians. 

“FE. Khulkhul (‘the house of brilliance’), which is in 
Kharran, in which, from time immemorial, Sin (moon) the 
great had raised his favoured seat within it; against that 
city and temple his heart became enraged, and he caused 
the Barbarians (Zab manda) * to attack it. 

“Tn my legitimate reign, Bel, the great lord, through 
love of my kingdom, was gracious, and showed mercy to 
that cityand temple. In the beginning of my everlasting 
reign he caused me to see a dream: Sin, the illuminator 
of heaven and earth, stood beside me (together with) 
Marduk, and spake with me, saying— 

“« Nabonidus, King of Babylon, carry bricks with thy 
chariots and horses, rebuild E. Khulkhul, and cause Sin the 
great lord to set up his abode within it.’ 

“Reverently I spake to the lord of the gods, Merodach. 

“«The Barbarians (Scythians) of whom thou speakest 
encompassed that house which thou commandest me to 
rebuild, and great is their might.’ 

“Then Merodach spake to me, saying—- 

“<The Barbarians of whom thou hast spoken, they and 
their country are no more. In the course of the third 
year he caused Cyrus, King of Anzan (Elam), his lesser 
servant,f to attack them, and with his small army he 
routed the widespread Barbarians. He seized Astyages, 
king of the Barbarians, and as his captive took him to his 
own land.’ 

* Here the Zab manda represent the Scythians, who swept over 
Western Asia, about B.C. 607, as far as Ashdod in Palestine. 

t+ Compare Isa. xliv. 28; xlv. 1. Nabonidus himself was the 
chief servant of Marduk, but Cyrus was doing the work of the 


Babylonian god by overthrowing the Medes, so he becomes also a 
servant. 


D 


34 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


“These were the words of the great lord Merodach, 
and Sin, the illuminator of heaven and earth, whose com- 
mand changes not. At their illustrious command I was 
afraid, and overcome, and much depressed. I did not 
delay, did not turn back. I took no rest. I caused my 
numerous troops to march from Gaza (K/dssati), on the 
borders of the land of Egypt, and from the upper on the 
other side of the Euphrates, and from the lower sea. 
Kings, princes, and governors, and my widespread army 
which Sin, Sama, and Istar my lords had entrusted to me. 
I gathered to rebuild E. Khulkhul, the temple of Sin my 
lord, who marches beside me, which is in Kharran, and 
which Assurbanipal, King of Assyria, son of Esarhaddon, 
King of Assyria, a prince, my predecessor had built. 

“Tn a favourable month, on a fortunate day, which in a 
vision Sin and Sama§ had revealed to me, with the deep 
knowledge of Ea, with the skill of Laban (the brick-god), 
the lord of foundations and brickwork, (I made); with silver, 
gold, and precious stones, and costly products of the forest, 
sweet-smelling cedar, with joy and rejoicing I laid its 
foundation. On the foundation of Assurbanipal, King of 
Assyria, who had seen a foundation-stone of Shalmaneser, 
the foundation I laid, and made strong its brickwork. With 
wines, oil, and honey its foundation I dressed and poured 
upon the temenos wall. More than any of the kings my 
fathers I strengthened its work, and perfected its design. 
That temple, from its foundation to its roof, 1 constructed 
and completed its design. Great beams of cedar-wood, 
the products of Mount Ammanus, I placed upon it. 
Double doors of cedar, whose surface was bright, in the 
gateways I hung; with silver and gold its walls I plated, 
causing (them) to shine like crystal. Colossal bulls of 
bright zakhhi stone . .. of my footsteps . . . I placed in 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD 35 


his dwelling. Two great figures of Lakhinu of 7Smaru 
(metal), who sweeps away my foes, in the gate of the 
rising sun (east), on the right and left, I placed. 

“(Then) the hands of Sin (moon), Ningal (moon- 
goddess), NuSku, and the god Sar-dar-nuna,* my lords 
from Suannaj} my capital, I took, and with joy and re- 
joicing to their favoured abode I caused them to enter. 
Within it a holocaust of victims I offered, and caused 
presents to be brought before them. E. Khulkhul with 
rejoicing I filled ; the whole of Kharran I made its splen- 
dour as bright as the rising moon.” 


The King’s Prayer. 


“© Sin, the king of the gods of heaven and earth, who 
in former time had abandoned that city and land, and had 
not returned to his abode, and to E. Khulkhul his dwelling- 
house had not come, now on thy entry favour to that city 
and temple may be established by thy word. The gods, 
the dwellers in heaven and earth, may they also draw near 
to the house of Sin their creator. 

“For myself, Nabonidus, King of Babylon, the one 
who completed that temple, may Sin, the king of the gods 
of heaven and earth, in the lifting up of his propitious 
eyes joyfully regard me; each month at its dawn and 
even may he favour my handiwork ; may he prolong my 
days; may he watch over my years and make frm my 
tule. May he overcome my enemies, and smite down 
my foes, and overpower my opponents. Ningal, the great 
mother of the gods, in the presence of Sin her lover may 
she speak of me; Samas and Istar, the beloved offspring 
of his heart, to Sin the father their begetter may they 


* Perhaps a god of the pantheon of Mitanni. 
+ Suanna was the temple quarter of Babylon. 


36 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


favourably mention me. Nusku, the supreme messenger, 
may he hear my prayers and intercede for me.” 


Restoration of Ancient Records. 


“The inscription, the writing of the name of Assur- 
banipal, King of Assyria, I saw I did not injure it; with 
oil I anointed it, and victims I offered ; and with my own 
inscription I set it and restored it to its place.” 

This inscription affords conclusive proof of the close 
association between Kharran and Babylonia, and of the 
holy character of the city and its temple. These facts 
explain the reason why the Hebrew writers make Kharran 
the resting-place of Abram, for the cultus of Kharran, the 
moon-worship, was the same as that of Ur of the Chaldees. 

There is additional proof of the Babylonian origin of 
this city in the name Kharran, which is from the Sumerian 
Kharan (“a road”), the Semitic daragu, Hebrew dereg, 
the name no doubt being derived from the position of 
the town as the focus of all the roadways of Northern 
Mesopotamia. Both Assyrian and Egyptian records agree 
in testifying to the wealth of this land. From the tribute 
lists of Thothmes III. (B.c. 1600) we learn that the tribute 
of Naharina consisted of horses, cattle, goats, fruits, wine, 
oil, balsam, gold, silver, lead, precious stones, lapis lazuli, 
and the artificial blue clay largely used as a substitute for 
the real stone ;* while the Assyrian king, Tiglath-pileser I. 
(B.C. 1120), states that he carried away “vast herds of 
horses, swift mules, and cattle in countless numbers,” f 
and placed on the kingdom a tribute of “twelve hundred 
horses and two thousand head ‘of cattle.” For both the 


* Brugsch, “ History of Egypt,” voli. p. 404. 
+ “Annals of Assyria,” p. 69. 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD 37 


Egyptian and Assyrian kings this region had: a special 
attraction as a hunting-ground, ‘for here: both lions and 
elephants abounded. Here Amenophis III. killed one 
hundred and two lions,* and the Assyrian kings hunted 
the wild bull, lion, and elephant in the neighbourhood of 
Kharran. In his cylinder inscription, Tiglath-pileser says, 
“There mighty bull elephants, in the country of Kharran 
and in the district of the Khabur, I slew, and four elephants 
alive I caught, their hides and their tusks to my city of 
Assur I brought. At the bidding of Ninip (god of hunt- 
ing) one hundred and twenty lions, by my bold courage 
and my strong attack on foot, I have slain, and eight 
hundred lions in my hunting-chariot I have laid low. All 
kinds of beasts of the field and birds of heaven that fly 
to my hunting spoils I have added.”t On the broken 
obelisk in the British Museum, which contains a record of 
the hunting expeditions of this king, some further details 
of the rich animal life of this region are given. The king 
says, “In the land of the Nairi ibexes, mountain goats, 
hinds, and stags in nets he captured, and large numbers 
he collected and caused their herds to bring forth young, 
and asa flock of sheep he counted them. Panthers, wild 
boars, wild asses, etc., he captured.” { 

We know little, as yet, as to the inhabitants of this 
important region of Mitanni, or the land of Nairi, our 
earliest information being derived from the letters of the 
kings of this region found at Tel-el-Amarna. It is evident, 
from the correspondence with Amenophis III. (B.c. 1430), 
that, like the peoples of Syria and Palestine, the people of 
this region had so far come under the influence of Babylon 


* Budge, “ History of Egypt,” vol. iv. p. 99. 
t+ “Annals of Assyria,” p. 85. 
t Ibid., p. 141. 


38 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


during the rule of the Arabian and subsequent Kassite 
dynasties (B.C. 2300-1200) as to adopt the cuneiform mode 
of writing, and to employ a Semitic tongue for their cor- 
respondence with the rulers of Egypt. The letters of 
Tushrattu to the Pharaoh were written in this tongue. 

The inhabitants of this region had, however, progressed 
beyond the Syrian and Pheenician scribes in being able 


TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS. 


to adapt the cuneiform syllabary to their own tongue; 
and we possess a number of letters written in the native 
dialect of Mitanni. These tablets have been studied by 
many scholars—Sayce, Bruennow, Jensen, and others— 
but as yet no definite knowledge of the philological posi- 
tion of this lost tongue has been attained. It presents 
some resemblance to the pre-Aryan language of the Vannic 
or Armenian inscriptions which have been deciphered by 


THE LANDS OF NIMROD 39 


Professors Sayce and Guyard, but not sufficient to enable 
us to ascertain its character and position. 

I cannot conclude the notice of this important region of 
Western Asia over which the empire of Nimrod exercised 
its power without calling attention to the important field of 
exploration which it affords. Beneath the mounds of Eski 
Harran (Old Harran) there must be the remains of the 
famous temple of the moon-god, and here are the means 
of solving most important problems in the history of 
Assyria, Babylonia, and of the early stages of Hebrew 
record. Perhaps there still lies perdu amid the débris of 
that ancient fane the record of Abram and his fellow- 
colonists from Ur of the Chaldees. The Babylonian 
dominion extended to the shores of the Mediterranean 
at avery early period. The king of Kish, Lugalzaggisi, 
speaks of having marched from the lower sea of Elam 
—that is, the Persian Gulf—to the upper sea, but the 
first king to exercise any permanent rule over the sea- 
board was Sargon J. by his expeditions to the west 
land, the land of Amurri. One of these expeditions was 
prolonged for three years, when he went to the land of the 
setting sun and set up a statue there. This seems cer- 
tainly to indicate an expedition to Cyprus. We must 
remember that Sargon II. (B.c. 721) sent an expedition 
to Cyprus, and set up a fine monolith statue of himself 
there, which is now in the museum at Berlin. A seal of 
Naram Sin, certainly later than his time, was found at 
Curium by De Cesnola, and there is no reason why the 
second Sargon should not have been following the prece- 
dent of his namesake of three thousand years prior to 
his time. This subject will be more fully treated of later 
on, when I deal with the historical inscriptions. 

One other region which was brought into early and 


40 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


close contact with Babylonia was the peninsula of Sinai. 
In the earliest records of the inscriptions of Ur-Nina, 
King of Sirpurra, which cannot be placed later than B.C. 
4500, we have records of the king sending from his land 
to the land of Magan (5)! += <{E}.) for hard stone and 
hard wood with which to make his statues. Sargon and 
Naram Sin conquered this region, while the inscriptions of 
Gudea, Viceroy of Sirpurra (B.c. 2800), mention many 
expeditions by ship to this region. The geographical in- 
scriptions in the library at Nineveh throw much light on this 
important land and its products. It is frequently coupled 
with the land of Mulukhkha ((E= E\V\< WH <EJ.), a land pro- 
ducing gold, and which certainly lay on the frontiers of 
Egypt ; as inthe cylinder of Assurbanipal, who commences 
the account of his Egyptian war with the words, “In my 
first campaign I marched to Magan and Milukhkha, 
Tirhakah, king of Egypt and Ethiopia, whose defeat 
Esarhaddon my father had brought about, and whose land 
he had taken possession of, he forgot the power of Assur 
and Istar and the great gods my lords.”* In the geogra- 
phical lists the two countries are always associated, and in 
one valuable fragment in the British Museum (83-1-18,836) T 
we have the important association Muzri and Milukhkha. 
The lists of countries, with their products, show that 
Milukhkha was a land producing alluvial gold; while 
Magan was a land producing hard wood, hard stone 
and copper, and the blue stone or turquoise. There is 
only one region which fulfils the conditions as to its 
products, and the testimony of the most ancient records of 


* Rassam Cylinder, Col. I., lines 52 e¢ seg. 

t+ On the importance of this fragment as demolishing the theory 
of Winckler and Cheyne of a North Arabian Kingdom of Muzri, see 
Budge, “ History of Egypt,” vol. vi. p. xxiii. 


ik aN DS Of NIMROD 41 


both Egypt and Chaldea are agreed in pointing to the 
peninsula of Sinai. This peninsula, rich in volcanic rocks, 
produces porphyry, diorite, and other hard stones, the 
very rocks which the 
earliest kings of both 
Egypt and Chaldea 
employed for their 
everlasting memorial 
Seatmes: Lake, for 
example, the fine dio- 
rite statue of Khafra, 
Smeicephren, the 
builder of the second 
pyramid (B.C. 3700), 
or the fine statue of 
Gudea (B.C. 2800). 
ietre, £00; were 
found also copper, 
and the blue and 
green turquoise so 
prized in antiquity. 
We know from the 
Babylonian inscrip- 
tions that Sargon and 
Naram-Sin of Agade 
invaded this region 
about B.C. 3750. On 
the other hand, we 
Nave a record of GUDEA STATUE. 
Senefru, the first king 
of the fourth Egyptian dynasty, almost contemporary, in 
which he states that he drove out the foreign stone-cutters 
from the mines. This bas-relief and inscription is cut 


42 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


upon the rocks of the Wady Maghara, near to the quarries 
and mines. 

The inscription reads, “Senefru the great god, the 
subduer of foreign lands, giver of power, stability of life, 
all health and all joy of heart for ever.” From that time 
onward the possession of the mines of Sinai was looked 
upon by the kings of Egypt as a sacred trust, and a 
garrison of troops was kept there, and criminals were 
employed to work in the mines. The evidence of the care 
taken to preserve this valuable property can be seen in 
the Wady Maghara to this day. Senefru conquered the 
inhabitants of the country and seized the mines, then held 
by foreigners, and built strong forts in the neighbourhood 
for Egyptian troops to live in, and to serve as places of 
refuge for the miners when suddenly attacked by natives ; 
and the ruins of certain stone buildings which exist in 
the Wady to this day have been identified by modern 
travellers as the forts of Senefru. 

Now, taking all the above facts into consideration, it 
seems much more reasonable to identify Magan with 
Sinai, adjacent to Muzri or Egypt, on the one side, and 
Milukhkha on the other, that is, the gold-producing land of 
Midian, than to seek, as Glaser and Hommel have done, to 
locate it on the western side of the Persian Gulf, where no 
region which could produce the characteristic products of 
Magan is to be found. 

From this summary of monumental evidence we see 
how widespread was the influence of Babylonia in ancient 
times, and how great was the power of this first of empires, 
whose dominion extended from the mountains of Persia 
to the shores of the sea of the setting sun, and from the 
snow-clad slopes of the mountains of Armenia to the 
Persian Gulf. 


CHAPTER If 


BEGINNINGS OF BABYLONIAN 
CIVILIZATION 


civilization, no problem needs, where possible, to be 

so carefully investigated as that of primitive environ- 
ment—that is, the physical surroundings amid which its 
earliest stages were developed. It is in man’s early efforts 
to adapt himself to his surroundings, and by his gradually 
increasing knowledge to improve and modify his daily 
life to the conditions of his environment, which constitute 
the beginnings of civilization. It is this struggle for 
existence under the best and improved circumstances that 
has produced the first stages of progress, and called into 
being the earliest forms of art and science. 

Man, with the faculty of reason, found a means to the 
end desired, and thus rose above the animal and became 
a tool-maker. He it was who recognized the fact that 
nature, when assisted even in the smallest degree, became 


| the study of the origin and growth of an ancient 


infinitely more prolific in her food-producing bounty ; 
hence the genesis of the tiller of the soil and the science of 
agriculture. 

Man studies his environment, learns from it, and modi- 
fies and adapts the objects of nature to his wants. How 
simple are the circumstances which lead to the beginnings 
of the useful arts? For example, it was in all probability 

43 


44 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


a bird’s nest that suggested to primitive man’s mind the 
first basket ; and the clay-lined basket became the first 
pot, sharing the priority with the gourd and the shell. 
The clay-lined basket subjected to fire became a pot, but 
the basket origin was not lost. In almost all ancient 
civilizations hand-made pottery, before the invention of a 
wheel, was first made upon a basket framework, as it is 
to this day among the Kabylee of North Africa ; but even 
when this was dispensed with, the basket origin was still 
indicated by basket-work being the style of decoration. 
It is curious to notice that in the prehistoric pottery of 
Egypt these decorations are on the inside of the pots, 
where once the marking of the wicker framework was. 
For examples, see the prehistoric pottery from Hu and 
Abadiyeh in the Edwards Museum University College ; 
or, for a Chaldean example, the large vases found at 
Nippur. 

It was plaiting first applied to basket-work and mat- 
making that first led to the beginnings of the art of 
weaving, and textile work, we shall find, is the basis of the 
decorative art of Chaldea and Assyria, The problem of 
adaptation to environment calls into play all the earliest 
intellectual faculties of man, and it is therefore all the more 
important to master its details, as far as possible, in our 
study of the growth and development of the civilization 
and arts of an ancient people. 

There is also another important factor to be borne in 
mind. As man is alone a tool-making animal, and thereby 
elevates himself above the brute creation, so also he pos- 
sesses another faculty which distinguishes him from even 
the highest forms of animal life. Whatever arguments 
may be advanced for the descent of man from the apide, 
there is one great barrier as yet unbroken. Man is the 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 4s 


only animal that draws. Even in the lowest types of 
the human race, and in the most ancient specimens of 
the human race in'the remote geological ages, this faculty 
is found to have been exercised. Often it is most strangely 
developed in proportion to all other elements which 
combine to constitute civilization. Take, for example, 
the lowest types of the human race—the dwarf Bushmen 
of South Africa—who possess only the barest modicum 


Peay 
7p 


ae 


' 
ey 


CAVE DRAWINGS. 
(1) ENGRAVED PEBBLE: (2) HEAD OF IBEX: 
MONTASTRUC BRUNIQUEL. LAUGERIE BASSE. 


of civilization, yet are expert artists, as shown by their rock 
and cave drawings. The prehistoric dwellers of Southern 
France, the contemporaries of the mammoth and the cave 
bear, even amid their glacial surroundings, had developed 
no mean artistic faculty, as shown by their drawings on 
bone and horn. Their environment was of the most un- 
congenial type, their stage of culture but that of savage 
hunters and fishers, as shown by the rude stone and bone 
implements; yet at the same time their carvings and 


46 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


scratched outline drawings show an extraordinary sense 
of art. It was this inherent graphic instinct which caused 
them to record the incidents of their far remote life upon 
this earth—the hunter his exploits, the reindeer-keeper 
the pick of his herd. So also in the Nile Valley the pre- 
historic Lybian settlers, who buried their dead in the 
shallow graves on the sand-dunes of the Nile valley, as 
may be seen in the Mummy Room of the British Museum, 
were no mean artists, as shown by the drawings of gazelles, 
hippos, and other animals found by Professor Petrie in 
their tombs. 

In this graphic faculty, where man gives expression 
to his desire to record events, he possesses a clear line 
of demarcation from even the highest form of the anthro- 
poids, for none as yet has ever shown any natural tendency 
to draw, or has it been possible to teach them to do so. 
It is to this faculty that we trace the beginning of the 
pictorial and literary arts. The art of writing has been 
well defined by Professor Tylor as “the art of recording 
events and transmitting messages.” Long before the rude 
picture became associated with language, it served as a 
graphic record of some episode in the life of primitive 
man, calling into being in the minds of those who gazed 
upon it by a species of silent telegraphy the event which 
it was desired to commemorate. Intellectual progress, 
however, soon led to the use of graphic symbols to 
express associated ideas, words, and language, and hence 
the genesis of writing. It is this stage of ideography 
which is one of the most important for the study of the 
beginnings of art and civilization, and which, fortunately, 
we find highly developed and preserved in the primitive 
script of the Tigris-Euphrates valley. 

From the above reasons we find a pictorial basis to all 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 47 


the primitive and indigenous systems of ancient Oriental 
writing, such as the hieroglyphics of Egypt, the linear 
and cuneiform writings of Chaldea, and the strange and 
undeciphered inscrip- 
tions of North Syria 
and Asia Minor, some- 
what conjecturally as- 
signed to the Hittites, 
as well as the strange 
syllabary of the AZgean 
people found by Mr. 
Arthur Evans in Crete. 

The pictorial basis 
of these ancient scripts 
is) of the greatest 
value to us in the 


DRAWING ON STONE OF URNINA, 
B.C. 4500. 


study of primitive en- 

vironment, for it is in these primitive signs that man 
pictures the surroundings of his home—the fauna, flora, 
and other common objects around him. 

For the purpose of this work, the Mesopotamian 
valley may be divided generally into two portions. First, 
Babylonia, extending from the Persian Gulf to about 
three hundred miles north, and forming a triangle, of 
which the Tigris and Euphrates form the sides, and the 
basis a line drawn from Sammarah on the former river 
to Hit on the latter, a distance of about one hundred 
and twenty-five miles. The second portion is Assyria, 
situated to the north-east of Babylonia, and extending 
from the Lower Zab to Armenian and Kurdish Mountains, 
with an area of about seventy-five thousand miles. The 
physical features of the two districts are so different, that 
it will be best to reserve our study of Assyrian geography 


48 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


until the culture of that nation is more directly under 
consideration. 

Few regions in the ancient Oriental world were better 
suited to be the cradle-land of a primitive civilization 
than the rich alluvial plain of Chaldea. River-born, 
river-nourished, like the Nile valley, its naturally fertile 
nature was increased to an astounding degree by the 
slightest assistance from the hand of man. From the 
earliest times the efforts of the inhabitants of this land 
were directed to the controlling and distribution of the 
fertilizing waters of the dual streams, especially those of 
the slower, and richly laden with alluvial waters of the 
Euphrates, called justly “the River of Life,’ and soon 
the land became intersected with a network of canals, 
and studded with reservoirs, which caused it to become 
a veritable garden of the gods. There is little wonder, 
therefore, that tradition has always located here the 
Garden of Eden. 

Ample evidence, perhaps, is afforded by the hundreds 
of revenue tablets, giving the return of corn and dates, 
flocks, herds, etc., at a period about B.C. 2500, which are 
exhibited in the British Museum, while others, dating fully 
a thousand years earlier, are to be seen in the museums 
of Paris and Constantinople, that the food problem 
dominated all life. Corn was the staff and standard of 
life, and the value of all commodities was estimated by 
a corn value. This is proved by the sign for price 
(No. 53) being composed of corn and measure; and long 
after the introduction of a silver tariff the price of corn 
ruled the value of land. An astonishing proof of the 
antiquity of an organized civilization in Chaldea has 
been furnished by the long archaic inscription found by 
M. de Morgan at Susa. The inscription, written on an 


OLDEST RECEIPTED BILL IN THE WORLD. 


<< 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 51 


obelisk of granite, is inscribed in most archaic characters 
of the linear type, many only in a very slight degree 
removed from the pictorial, as the accompanying table 
of characters shows. The inscription is a land-purchase 
deed of certain estates, fields, etc., in Southern Chaldea, 
purchased by a certain Manishtu-su, King of Kish, who 
was contemporary with the earliest kings of Chaldea, 
especially the rulers of Tello and Nippur, and whose 
date may be certainly placed prior to B.C. 4000. From the 
inscription I select the following valuation of land and 
other objects, a passage which undoubtedly constitutes 
the oldest bill in the world :— 

As an example of the general contents of this inscription, 
I select this extract (Face C, Col. VII. 19 to Col. IX. 15)— 


(3 x 1080) + (3 x 108) + (3 x 18) 


gan (padanu) = 3834 feddan area. 
Sim-Sit = its price. 
(3 se x 3600) + (3 x 600) + 

(3 x 60) gan saggal = 12,780 kor of seed-corn. 
1 stklu kaspi = at I shekel silver. 
I se gur saggal = per kor of seed-corn. 


kaspu sit = its money value. 
3 biltt 33, mana kaspi = 3 talents 33 mana silver. 


sim ekli = price of the field. 
40 bilti sipatu = 4o talents of wool. 
simu = the price. 

1 stklu kaspi = I shekel of silver. 


4 manu sipaiu = 4 mana of wool. 

kasap-sin = the money (silver). 

10 mana kaspi = 10 mana silver. 

3 kililu kaspi = 3 kililu of silver. 
sukuliu(ki-lal) 1 sunu mana kaspi = their weight in silver (1 mana). 
6 khazi siparri = 6 bronze wedges. 

4 naplagtum siparri = 4 bronze cleavers. 

3 parsatum siparri = 4 bronze wedges. 

Sim 1 gis-ku = price per instrument. 

5 sthklt kaspi = at 5 shekels of silver. 


I ma-na 5 stkli kaspi = I mana 5 shekels silver. 


52 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


3X 4 wnser bar-an 
stm 

I zmer bar an 

4 (mana) kaspi 
kasap-su-nit 

4 mana kaspi 

40 sami karpat 
Stmu 

1 stklu kaspi 

10 ka sammné 
kasap su 

3 mana kaspi 

5 (saq us) zztakh 
4 (saq sal) 

stm 1 saq 

1 kaspi 

kasap su-nu 

3 mana kaspt 

I marti 

S7M1-SA 


13 szklz kaspi 


(su-nigin) 214 sana, lal 2 stkli kaspi 


Nin kt Nin gan 


I2 asses. 

the price. 

of each ass. 

4 mana silver. 

their money value. 

4 mana of silver. 

4o jars of oil. 

the price. 

1 shekel of silver. 

per 10 ka of oil. 

its price. 

3 mana of silver. 

5 male slaves. 

4 female slaves. 

price per head. 

4 mana silver. 

their value. 

3 mana silver. 

1 female child. 

her price. 

13 shekels silver. 

Total: 213 mana, less 2 shekels 
silver (z.e. 21 mana 18 shekels). 
In addition to the price of the 
field. 


The true nature of this inscription is best seen when 
it is written out in the form of a modern bill— 


Talent. Mana. 


4o talents of wool at 4 mana for a shekel .. LC) fe) 
3 kililu of silver, weighing 1 mana silver (returned), 
6 khazi of bronze, 4 cleavers of bronze, 3 bronze 


wedges, at 5 shekels of silver per tool 
I2 asses at } mana each 


4o jars of oil at 1 shekel per 10 ka 


5 male slaves, 4 female slaves at } mana (20 Shekels} 


per head 


1 female child at 13 Brera aS 


21 
Price 214 mana — 2 shekels | 


I 5 
4 fo) 
3 fo) 
3 fe) 
© 18 
2T) BES 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 53 


Here we have ample proof of a state of organized 
civilization, the product of centuries of growth and 
development. The corn tariff was already being replaced 
by a silver one, with a system of weights and measures 
based on sexagesimal scale. The metals were worked, 
the textile arts had already been developed, as shown 
by the use of wool, and the references in other parts of 
the inscriptions to robes and clothes presented by the 
king. Of the arts and trades in use, ample information 
is given in the list of workmen and officials in the in- 
scription. Among the trades, we may mention carpenters, 
gardeners, shepherds, weavers, metal-workers, boatmen, 
barbers; and of professions, scribes, priests, judges, surveyors. 

Information of still greater value for the solution of 
the problem of primitive environments is to be derived 
from the study of the pictorial signs themselves. The 
large number of signs used in this lengthy inscription— 
over two hundred in number—and others which occur 
in archaic inscriptions from Tello and Nippur and Sippara, 
form, as it were, a primitive sketch-book, placing before 
us with wonderful detail the home and surroundings of 
the inventors of the script. The inscriptions show clearly 
that the linear form preceded the wedge shape — this 
development being due to the use of plastic clay—as the 
medium for writing. Of other materials, the most 
accessible would be stone, wood, or some vegetable 
product. Sayce and others have suggested the use of 
papyrus, but of this there is no definite proof; but as 
the sign gz (No. 17), the determination of the reed class, 
is also used for books, letters, etc. it may have been 
some reed product which was used. There are also 
indications that wood was used, but the earliest material 
undoubtedly was stone, a preference being given to the 


54 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


harder varieties, on which the characters could be scratched. 
No doubt at a very early period man would exercise his 
graphic powers upon rocks and boulders, as a record of 
his presence or as a sign of possession of certain land. 
From this custom, which still survives in the Wussam or 
tribe marks on rocks made by Arab tribes to denote 
routes or pasturage, or the totem graffiti of the Indians 
no doubt originated the Kudurri, or boundary stones, 
many of which are exhibited in the Babylonian room, 
and which, it is to be noted, are in every case boulders, 
and not quarried stones. 

This prior use of stone would indicate that the writing 
was not indigenous to Chaldea, where clay was plentiful, 
but stone very scarce. Moreover, the ideographic signs 
confirm this most clearly. The same sign (No. 1) re- 
presents country and mountain. There is a sign for fir 
tree (No. 2), for cave (3), and the bear, while there 
are no signs for the palm tree or for sand. Still more 
important are the ideograms of location; the sign Num 
(No. 52), which stands for “highland,” is used as the 
ideogram for Elam; while the Tigris is represented by a 
single ideogram (No. 52), the sister stream of the Euphrates 
being a compound group. Sea is a compound group, 
stream or spring (No. 54) is a 
simple sign, but river a compound, all of which would 
show that it was not in the neighbourhood of the great 
rivers or on the shores of the Persian Gulf that the script 
was invented, or that the lowland plains were the primitive 
home of the race. Tradition, the last flicker of the lamp 
of history, throws some light on the subject. The temples 
of the land were called “ mountain houses.” Other special 
edifices bore the names of the “ Mountain of the World,” 
or of the “ Lady of the Mountains,” while it was on the 


d 


meaning “deep water ;’ 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 55 


mythic mountain of the east, or rather north-east, that the 
gods held council like the Homeric deities on Olympus. 
It is this very ancient Chaldean tradition that is referred to 
by Isaiah (xiv. 13, 14), when he speaks of “the mountain 
of assembly in the uttermost parts of the north.” 

The details of the primitive home which we can gather 
from these prehistoric sketch-books are both ample and 
interesting. They lived in huts or houses built first of 
reeds (No. 4), which were divided into two portions (5), 
the inner room being the quarter of the women. The 
sides and roof were supported by beams (6), and the house 
had a door (7) which turned on its post, the end of which 
rested in a stone socket. Outside of the house were 
gardens (8) and fields (9), which were bounded by ditches 
(10) or small canals (11), while they were irrigated (12) 
from the river or larger canals, or watered from wells (13). 
Corn grew in the fields (15), and flowers in the gardens, 
and the principal agricultural implement was the hoe (17); 
the shaddoof, or “water balance,” was also in use. Paths 
(19) divided the estates. In the river and streams fish 
abounded (20), and were caught with nets (21) by the use 
of boats (22). The art of making pottery was known, and 
many kinds of jars were made (23, 24), which were carried 
on the head (25) or placed on stands (25A). Corn was 
grown into flour (29), and made into cakes and bread, or 
mixed with oil (28). Sheep (31) were tended by sheep- 
masters (32), and kept in folds (33), while the wool (28) 
was woven into cloth (27). Both the wild (34) and 
domestic ox (35) were known, and the latter worked 
under a yoke as a draught animal. The ass (37) was the 
chief beast of burden. The goat also was domesticated, 
while the dog (36), as in all primitive civilizations, was 
the companion of man and the guardian of his flocks. 


56 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Towns (38) had been built, and the centre of each was 
the burg or citadel (39). Originally, this was a wooded 
stockade, as the name g7s-gal (“great wood”) indicates, 
and the buttresses of the Chaldean architecture are but 
a survival of the posts of the stockade. In the place 
of honour in the primitive town was the shrine of the 
patron god (41), originally a wooden enclosure, with an 
altar in the centre, afterwards replaced by a brick en- 
closure, such as was found in the lowest strata of Nippur. 
Fire for domestic or sacred use was kindled by the fire- 
stick (42, 43), and priests (44) offered victims (45), or 
poured out libations (24). At the head of the community 
was the king (46), called /ugal (“great man”), and under 
him judges (47) and several classes of overseers, whose 
badge of office was a knobbed staff (48). Writing was 
known, and tablets were engraved with a stylus (49). We 
may compare this ideograph with the disposition of tablet 
and stylus on the statue of Gudea as the architect (chap. 
iv.). Metals (51) were known, silver being the first worked, 
and called “the white or pure metal” (50A), while copper 
was the next used; but gold does not appear until later, 
and then in the form of alluvial dust. 

Such is the picture of the life and environment of 
the first inventors of the cuneiform writing which we 
are able to reconstruct from the primitive pictures which 
are preserved in the linear script of the archaic inscriptions 
of somewhat over six thousand years ago. How much 
further must we look back into the remote past for the 
dawn of that culture, which was so advanced at that 
distant period of time? 

From these records, we may reasonably suppose that 
the writing was invented in the highlands of the mountains 
of Kurdistan and Luristan, which rise in steps leading 


wre BY 3 
Eee 3 +P 


EX <A 
# > Ml a ¥ 


58 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


up to the great table-land of Iran. From their primitive 
home under the slopes of Mount Elvend, it was carried 
to the lowlands bordering on the Tigris, and watered 
by the Karun, Disful, and other streams—the ancient 
Anzan, or Susiania, a corn-producing land of almost 
equal richness to the Chaldean plain—and from thence 
transferred to Babylonia, where it underwent still further 
modifications. 


CITADEL MOUND OF SUSA. 


We now come to the difficult question of the race who 
were the inventors of this mode of writing. This work, 
which deals solely with the life of Chaldea, is not the place 
for a discussion on the various phases of the Sumero- 
Akkadian question, which has so long divided Assyri- 
ologists into two hostile camps; but fresh evidence of an 
important character having been obtained by the explora- 
tions of M. de Morgan at Susa, we can now deal with 
the subject briefly. 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 59 


The evidence of the pictorial characters seems, as I 
have shown, to clearly point to their invention in the 
regions to the east of the Tigris, and in a mountainous 
region where the fir and other conifers grow. The region 
of Susiania, the modern Khusistan, under the ranges of 
the mountains of Kurdistan and Luristan, has, from the 
remotest ages, attracted man by its fertility. Ample 
proof is afforded of this by the excavations made by M. de 
Morgan in the ancient tumulus of Susa. Here, by cutting 
tunnels in the mound at various heights above the plain, 
the explorer discovered a series of towns and settlements, 
reaching back to the beginning of the historic and far 
into the prehistoric ages. 

(1) The virgin soil, a pebbly ridge formed by the 
rain torrents from the highlands. 

(2) First settlement, 10°93 metres above the plain. 
Hand-made pottery, with red and brown decorations, 
similar to that found in the prehistoric settlements in 
Egypt at Ballas, Nagada, etc. 

(3) Second settlement, 14°30 metres above the plain. 
Traces of huts having been destroyed by fire. Pottery 
of similar style to first settlement, but not so numerous. 
Large quantities of worked flints and numerous flint teeth 
of wooden sickles, similar to those made in Egypt.* 

(4) Third settlement, 16°80 metres above the plain. 
Also destroyed by fire. Here enormous heaps of the sickle 
teeth were found, indicating that agricultural implements 
had been piled in heaps, and the wooden frames decayed. 
Some of the flints bore traces of bitumen fastenings. 
Stone-made heads also found. 

(5) First town, 21:25 metres above the plain. Here 


* See sickle with teeth (figure), Petrie’s “ Khahun and Gorub,” 
PY VI. 


60 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


traces of burnt walls were found; also tanks and wells, 
lined with terra-cotta pipes of large size. No traces of 
writing. 

(6) First Anzanian town, 29 to 30 metres above the 
plain. Traces of palaces and other edifices burned with 
fire and razed to the ground. Bricks inscribed with the 
names of Elamite rulers. This was the city destroyed 
by Assurbanipal in B.C. 640. 

Here we have set before us in regular sequence the © 
history of this important site. The plain of Anzan—for 
such was the ancient name of this region—was always 
celebrated for its corn-growing qualities, and indeed is so 
to the present day. Strabo, writing of the fertility of this 
region, states that wheat produced a hundred and some- 
times two hundred-fold. De Candole, the botanist, would 
make this region the indigenous home of wheat.* The 
origin of the settlements is clearly shown in the immense 
number of sickles found, which indicate that the site was 
occupied and then left, the sickles being piled in heaps, 
Two of these hut settlements had been destroyed by fire 
—perhaps by raids from Babylonia—and then replaced by 
a small town. The historic records of Chaldea go back to 
a period of some five thousand years before our era. The 
first town at Susa is probably contemporary with the 
lowest strata at Nippur and Tello, both of which are long 
prior to that age. What antiquity are we to assign to the 
primitive settlements which precede it? 

Among the objects discovered at Tello are two remark- 
able statuette heads in good preservation. One of these 
presents a distinct Mongol type. The high cheek-bones, 
flat face, small olive eyes, and the brachycephalic cha- 
racter of the head, all go to ally it with the northern 


* Migration of Plants. 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 61 


Mongol type.* The second head presents a fuller type of 
face, while both head and face are closely shaved. The 
second head I take to be a mixed Semitic and Mongol 
type. The prominence given tothe barber (ga//adz) in the 
early inscriptions indicates that shaving was a general 
custom. The Semites made their appearance in Babylonia 
at a very early period, as shown by the inscription of 
Mani8stu-su (B.C. 4500), and fortunately we possess sculp- 
tured representation of Semitic rulers at a period as early 
as B.C. 3800. The two monuments of Naram Sin, the 
statue from Mardin, now in the Imperial Museum at 
Constantinople, and the fine stele found by M. de Morgan at 
Susa, clearly set forth the Semitic type. We find clear, 
well-cut, aquiline features, and long hair and beard, the 
direct opposite of the Sumerian heads. We have also in 
the British Museum a portrait of the great king of the 
Arabian dynasty of Babylon (8.c. 2200), Khammurabi, 
which shows the same characteristics. As we have a 
mixture of races in Chaldea in ancient times, so also we 
have then, and indeed always, a variety of tongues. Chief 
among them is one agglutinative dialect, possessing all 
the mechanism of a Turanian language; the other pure 
Semitic, written phonetically in most cases, and having 
close affinities with Hebrew and Arabic. 

Turning our eyes eastward, on the other side of the 
Tigris we find a perfect conglomeration of races, tribes, and 
tongues. To the Babylonians this region was known as 
the land of Gute, the Goim or Nations of the Hebrews; 
and later, as the land of the Zab-manda, or Barbarians, 
Elamites occupied the plain, while Kassites or Cosseans 
occupied the mountains, and later the Mards, or Amardians. 


* Kean’s “Man, Past and Present,” p. 275. “Ethnology,” ° 
> al /5 Sy, Pp 
301, 302. 


62 THE FIRST OF EMPIRGS 


In the genealogical table of Genesis x. 10, Elam is classed 
as the eldest son of Shem, but this is to be attributed 
to the conquest of the land by the first Semite dynasty, 
about B.C. 3800. The early Elamite type is not known to 
us, but the later is accurately represented in the sculptures 
of Assurbanipal.* Here we have every indication of a 
mixed Semitic and Mongol race. As also in the Kassite, 
where the Mongol element is more pronounced. If the 
beard of the figure of Marduk-nadin-akhi were removed, 
the resemblance to the Tello head would be very close. 
Another feature which does not appear to have been 
previously noticed is the very characteristic turban, 
or head-dress. Now, among Orientals, the last change 
made in costume is in the head-dress. In India, Persia, 
Syria, or Egypt, the native upper classes may adopt 
European dress, but the turban, or fez, is still retained. 
The Sumerian head-dress,s made more ornate, as be- 
came a king, is the royal cap of the Kassite king. It 
appears again in the head-dress of the Elamites,* and 
several modifications of it may be seen in the sculptures, 
and it is in use to-day among the mountain tribes of 
Luristan.f 

The ancient Sumero-Elamite type is not lost, for it 
survives to this day among the Bakhtyari, among whom 
Layard spent many years. 

They are a fierce body of warlike tribes, owing allegiance 
to no one. They are not homogeneous, embracing many 
blended nationalities: the base, however, being a fusion of 
the Mongol and Semite. According to Houssay,§ the type 


* See Assyrian Basement Slabs. 

+ Dieulafoy, “‘ Acropole de Suse,” pp. 97, 98, III. 
{ Layard’s “ Early Travels.” 

§ “Acropole de Suse,” p. III. 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 63 


is brachycephalic, and should be attached.to the Mongol 
race, while that writer, as well as Layard and De Bode, 
agree in an admixture of Semitic, reproducing the ancient 
Elamite type. In the course of centuries, and before the 
various waves of invasion that have swept over the Susa- 
nian plain, the aboriginal races have been driven to the 
mountains and highlands. The same may be noticed in 
Syria, where I have seen, in the Taurus and Western 
Armenia, men whose features and figures are exactly those 
of the Hittites in the sculptures of Carchemish or the 
scenes on the walls of Karnak. Hence it is not sur- 
prising that the ancient Elamite type survives among the 
mountains of Luristan. 

As to the question of the primitive Mongol or Turanian 
inhabitants of Mesopotamia being the inventors of the 
pictorial writing, there is much division of opinion among 
Assyriologists. Oppert, Sayce, Lenormant, Hommel, Haupt, 
Pinches, all agree with Rawlinson, George Smith, and my- 
self in regarding it as certain. On the other hand, Pognon, 
Guyard, Dangin, Hilprecht, Jastrow, and others follow 
Halevy in regarding the origin as Semitic, the system 
being a “species of cryptography,” the deliberate invention 
of the priests in their desire to produce a method of con- 
veying their ideas that would be regarded as a mystery.* 
This theory might be tenable, to some extent, if this 
so-called cryptographic writing were confined to religious 
or magical texts; but when we have historical texts, royal 
hymns engraved on statues such as that of Khammurabi, 
in the British Museum, as well as commercial and legal 
documents written in it from B.C. 2000-3000, there is no 
demand for the element of mystery. It is also argued 


* Jastrow, “‘ Religion of Babylonians,’ p. 23. 
t King’s “Inscriptions of Khammurabi,” p. 40. 


64 THE FIRST OF EMPIRGS 


by Jastrow and others* that the cuneiform syllabary is 
Semitic. This is perhaps true in the modification of 
Sumerian words for their use as phonetics. The whole 
mechanism of the primitive picture and ideographic writ- 
ings is totally contrary to any known example of Semitic 
invention. The alphabet most associated with these 
people is that of Phoenicia, which is certainly a system 
borrowed or adapted from that of some other nation, 
possibly the Egyptian; but, in the light of more recent 
discoveries, probably either from the A*gean islanders or 
Cretans, or perhaps from the Minean traders. The rash 
statement of Jastrow, that both the religion and culture of 
Babylonia is the product of the Semitic mind, is a com- 
plete error, The family organization, the position of 
woman, the civic administration, the magic and demon- 
ology, with the creed of animism which underlies the 
religion, the elaborate numerical system derived from a 
most primitive basis, are all opposed to what we know 
of the Semitic nations. 

It will be more correct, in the face of the evidence I 
have quoted, to ascribe the beginnings of Chaldean and 
the associated civilizations to the slow, plodding, and in- 
ventive Mongolian, while their modification, adaptation, 
and propagation throughout Western Asia may be ascribed 
to the Semites. 

The Sumerians, who in many ways resembled the 
Chinese, never were an aggressive people, the only wars 
recorded in the most ancient inscriptions being those 
among the small civic kingdoms, or against the neighbour- 
ing state of Anzan. But with the advent of the Semites 
a great expansion took place. In the time of Sargon and 
Naram Sin we have expeditions against Syria, Sinai, and 


* Jastrow, “ Religion of Babylonians,” p. 24. 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 65 


even—as there is every reason to suppose—an expedition 
to the island of Cyprus, while to the east Babylonian 
armies penetrated into the mountains of Kurdistan and 
Luristan, and conquered Elam. Still more important than 
the warlike expeditions was the trade and commercial 
relations opened up with the surrounding nations. With 
the rise of the dynasty of Agade we find trade with the 
whole of Western Asia commencing, and it continues to 
increase in the hands of the Semites until, by the time 
of the Arabian dynasty and the age of Khammurabi, the 
commercial law of Babylon was that of the whole Oriental 
world. Those traders spread the culture and civilization 
of Babylon, and the cuneiform writing also, until, by the 
fifteenth century before our era, the cuneiform writing had 
become the script of trade and diplomacy for all Western 
Asia and even parts of Asia Minor, as shown by the 
cuneiform tablets found at Tarsus and at Pterium, or 
Boghaz Keui, or the Halys. In time this gave place to 
the Phcenician and Asia Minor scripts, but the cuneiform 
writing continued in use to within a very few years of the 
Christian era. The recently published commentaries on 
the creation tablets* and the magicalf and astrological 
inscriptions in the British Museum show that cuneiform 
writing was used and understood as late as B.C. 84, while 
the university at Borsippa with the Jewish college there 
flourished until many years later. This preservation and 
expansion of Babylonian learning was entirely the work 
of the Semites ; but the majority of the works were founded 
on Sumerian originals. Whatever doubt there was of a 
Sumerian literature is now set at rest by the valuable 
series of purely Sumerian hymns recently purchased by 
* King’s Seven Tablets of Creation.” 


t Thompson, “ Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia.” 
F 


66 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


the British Museum.* Until far more conclusive evidence 
is forthcoming to the contrary, we must still regard the 
ground-work of Babylonian civilization as of non-Semitic 
origin. 


THE LEGENDS OF CIVILIZATION. 


In addition to the evidence of the monuments, we must 
not neglect the valuable traditions of the beginnings of 
civilization which have come down to us. Of these, two 
especially are of special interest when compared with 
monumental evidence. The first is in the fragments of 
Chaldean origin which have been preserved by the Greek 
writers from the lost history compiled by the Greco- 
Chaldean writer, Berosus; the second source is the 
valuable legend of civilization preserved in the Hebrew 
writing (Gen. iv. and part of x.). Both these traditions 
are but echoes of the older Chaldean inscriptions pre- 
served on the tablets, but they are of interest as showing 
how rich a folk legend grew up on the subject. The 
traditions both place the dawn of civilization in that mythic 
age of gods and heroes prior to the deluge. The deluge 
forms a dividing-line between the mythic age and the 
beginnings of history, and to both Chaldean and Hebrew 
writers it was areal event: for in a list of royal names 
in the British Museum we record, “ These are the kings 
after the deluge (abubz), who according to their relative 
order wrote not.” And again, in another hymn to the 


* The Sumerian Hymns to Mullid, Nerunugal (Nergal), Mer 
(Adad), Enzu (Sin), Dumuzi (Tammuz), and other gods, published in 
“Select Inscriptions,” Pt. XV., prove most conclusively that Sumerian 
was a language, not a system of cryptograms, for many of the words 
are spelt out phonetically and vowel harmonics introduced. 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 67 


holy river, we read,* “ The deluge they (the gods) sent not 
before thou wert.” The references to antediluvian times 
in the Hebrew writings are very few and obscure,f but the 
record of the development of civilization is a valuable and 
a remarkable document. 

The account of Berosus is as follows :— 

“A great multitude of men of various tribes inhabited 
Chaldea, but they lived without any order, like the animals. 
Then there appeared to them from the sea, on the shore of 
Babylonia, a fearful animal of the name of Oan. Its body 
was that of a fish, but under the fish’s head another head 
was attached, and on the fins were feet like those of a man, 
and it had a man’s voice. Its image is still preserved. 
The animal came at morning and passed the day with 
men ; but it took no nourishment, and at sunset went again 
into the sea, and remained there for the night. This animal 
taught men language and scietice, the harvesting of seeds 
and fruits, the rules for the boundaries of land, the mode 
of building cities and temples, arts and writing, and all 
that relates to the civilization of human life.” { 

The graphic description which the ancient Chaldean 
historian gives of this strange creature enables us to 
identify it clearly with the fish-headed god Ea, so often 
figured in the sculptures, and on gems and seals. 

Ea, whose sacred city was Eridu, the Eri-dugga of the 
Sumerians, was the oldest god in the Babylonian pantheon. 
The name of Eri-dugga (-=]] &.) means “the holy or 
sacred city,” and the name was borrowed by the Semites 
as Eridu. The ruins are marked by the mounds of 


* King, “Seven Tablets of Creation,” p. 129. 

t+ Only an Old Testament reference, and this in the Deutero- 
Isaiah, can be noted in Isaiah liv. 9, ‘‘ the waters of Noah.” 

t Berosus, “Fragments,” 1st ed. (Miiller). 


68 THE FIRST OF EMPIRGS 


Abu-Sharain, about seven hours south-west of Mughier, the 
ancient Ur of the Chaldees. In remote times the waters 
of the Persian Gulf reached the walls, boats started from 
its quays. The city is described as 
being situated in the holy region of 
“the mouths of the rivers” (¢va pi 
nart), and the tradition is preserved 
in the modern name of the city, 
which means “the father of the two 
mouths.” The name of Ea, the patron 
god, is probably the origin of the 
Oan or Oannes of Berosus, though 
the exact reading of the characters 
(>] EN]! Jf. E-a) is not quite certain ; 
but as the name means “god of the 
house of water,’ and as Ea’s most 
important title was “lord of the deep,” 
the identification seems almost certain. 

The various elements of civiliza- 
tion which the mysterious fish-man 
taught the ancient inhabitants of 
Babylonia are all clearly represented 
in the epithets and titles applied to 
him ; or in the various divine children 
he was father of, or the emanations 
from himself. 


FIGURE OF FISH-HEADED 


aon. He is called “king of the deep,” 

“the wise god,” “he who knows 

all things,” “the lord of deep knowledge,” “the divine 
lord of laws;” and in the tablet of warnings to kings 
against injustice “the laws of Ea” are mentioned. We 
know both from the Sumerian and Semitic creation 
legends that he was a god of agriculture, ‘the bestower of 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 69 


planting, founder of sowing, the creator of grains and 
vegetables, who causeth the green herb to spring up.” 
Although he is nowhere called the god of writing and 
letters, it was his son Nebo, “the scribe god,’ who was 
“the god of tablet writing and the lord of the stylus, the 
patron of the scribe cast.” Ea also appears as the god of 
the arts. In the inscription of Nabu-apal-iddina (B.c. 880), 
in the British Museum, we find Ea as the craftsman god, 
assisted by four other minor divinities. These are Nin- 
igi-nagar-gid, “the superintendent of the measures ;” 
Gushkinbanda, “the brilliant chief,” as lord of the metal- 
workers ; Nin Kurra, “lord of the mountain,” as chief of 
the stone-hewers ; and Nin Zadmin, “lord of the sculptor.” 
So it will be seen that almost every one of the elements of 
civilization attributed to Oannes finds its counterpart in 
the titles of Ea or his associates. The fish form assigned 
to this god is to be traced to the once maritime position of 
Eridu. Adapa, the fisherman, whose legend is found on 
the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, was a fisherman, and his 
adventures form a pretty mythic story. Adapa was the 
son of Ea, and therefore but a reflection of his father 
He is, moreover, called in one of the magical texts, Adapa, 
the ruler of Eridu.* The legend states that Adapa was 
fishing in the sea for his master Ea, when the south-west 
wind, the hot fever-laden wind from Arabia, swept him into 
the sea. The words of Adapa are given— 

“ Anu said to him, ‘Adapa, why hast thou broken the 
wings of the south wind?’ 

“Adapa answered and said to Anu, ‘My lord! For 
the house of my lord I was fishing in the midst of the 
sea. The waters lay still around me, when the south 


* Thompson, “Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia,” vol. i. 
pe be 


70 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


wind began to blow, and forced me underneath. Into 
the dwelling of the fish it drove me. In the anger of 
my heart I broke the wings of the south wind.’” * 

The south-west wind is represented as a bird, or as 
a demon with wings and a head like a sun-perished skull. 
For his offence of breaking the wings of the wind, and 
preventing it from blowing for seven days, Adapa is 
summoned to heaven to the presence of Anu, to explain 
his conduct. Adapa, who is semi-mortal, being son or 
man of Ea, is told by his divine protector that if he goes 
to heaven he will be offered certain things which will 
render him like unto the gods{ and unable to return to 
earth. 

Ea said to Adapa, “When thou comest before Anu, 
they will offer thee the food of death (tz): do not eat 
it! They will offer the waters of death: do not drink. 
They will offer thee a garment: put it on! They will offer 
thee oil: anoint thyself! The order that I give thee, do 
not neglect. The word that I speak to thee, take to 
heart.” 

On his arrival in heaven he is met by two gods, who 
guard the gate of heaven—Tammuz and Giz-zida. The 
mention of these two gods as the guardians of heaven is 
important. Tammuz (--] = ~!J%*.), the son of life, was 
the god of fresh, verdant nature, and a tree-god, as the 
Lydian myth of Atys, borrowed from Babylonia, shows. 
Giz-zida (~] =] ~]/ = ]J.), the firm tree, or tree of life, 
and was especially the god who presided over the growth 
of trees. So these two tree-gods are the guardians of 


* Text in Winckler Thon-Tafelfund von El Amarna iii., 166a. 
Translations by Jastrow, “ Babylonian and Assyrian Religion,” pp. 554, 
555 ; and King’s “ Assyrian for Beginners,” in parts, pp. 123, etc. 

+ Perrot and Chipiez, “Chaldean and Assyrian Art,” vol. ii. p. 81. 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 71 


the gate of heaven. But those two gods were especially 
connected with Eridu, and were no doubt represented by 
the two brick pillars which stood before the gate of the 


BLOCK OF PILLARS. 


city, the bases of which Mr. Taylor found during his casual 
explorations of Abu Sharien.* These resemble the 


* Journ. R.A.S., xv. pl. ii. 


72 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


pillars found by De Sarzec before the shrine in the temple 
of Nin Sugir at Sirpurra. 

On his departure from earth to heaven, Ea had told his 
servant to wear a mourning dress, and so, when he arrives 
at the gates of heaven, the two guardian gods say to 
him, “Why art thou thus attired? For whom hast thou 
put on mourning ?” 

To this question he replies, “Two gods have dis- 
appeared from earth, therefore do I wear a mourning 
garment.” 

“Who art the two gods who have disappeared from 
earth?” Tammuz and Giz-zida looked at each other and 
broke into lamentation. 

This reference to the disappearance or death of the 
two gods of Eridu refers, of course, to the death of the 
two tree-gods of the spring under the storms of winter, 
then they disappear to return with the spring and 
summer, for the fourth and fifth months, Duzu and Ab 
(June to August), are dedicated to Tammuz and Nin 
Giz-zida. 

On the arrival of Adapa in heaven, he is offered the 
food and drink of /z7e by Anu, but refuses to take them, 
and so does not become immortal. It is important to 
notice that that which was the food of death to Ea is the 
food of life to Anu. Jastrow makes the very important 
suggestion that “the desire of the creator Ea to prevent 
his creature (Adapa) from gaining immortal life and becom- 
ing like unto the gods, is very much the same as we find 
in Genesis iii, when Yaveh, who creates man, takes 
precaution lest man eat of the tree of life, and “live 
for ever.” In this he is probably correct. 

The legend of Adapa confirms the Oannes tradition by 
making Ea the patron of fishermen, and also shows Eridu 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 73 


to have been the centre of a tree-worshipping cultus, 
which is interesting when we study the Hebrew legend of 
civilization. 

One valuable confirmation of this idea is found in 
the line “Within it are Samas and Tammuz, but the 
god Giz-zida* was another form of Samag, and we 
have seen that these were the local tree-gods of Eridu. 
The sacred grove was common to almost all the religions 
of the old world, and the existence of such a grove in 
the mythology of Eridu is quite to be expected. The 
grove was situated in the holy land—the land of im- 
mortality of the Babylonians, the mystic region at the 
mouth of “the rivers” (¢va pi narz). Of the sanctity 
of this region we have ample proof in the Deluge tablet 
(Col. V.), where Samai-napi&ti (and his wife), the Chaldean 
Noah, are translated, where we read— 


“ Hitherto Samas-napisti has been mortal, 
But now Samaé-napi&ti and his wife 
Shall be gods like unto us.f 
Samas-napisti shall dwell in a far-distant 
place at the mouth of the rivers. 
They took me and placed me in a far-distant 
place at the mouth of the rivers.” 


The Hebrew legend of civilization, which we find in 
Genesis, iii., iv., is essentially the work of the Yahavist 
writer. He is, as Renan remarked, a decided pessimist. 
He alone it is who records the story of the Fall, the 
expulsion from Eden, the fratricide by Cain, and who 
treats the attempts of man to adapt himself to the 
changed circumstances as an exercise of free-will not 
pleasing to Yaveh. It is, moreover, to be noticed that 


* Jastrow, “Religion,” p. 51. 
t+ Compare the words in Gen. iii. 22, addressed to Adam and Eve. 


74 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


the whole of the genealogy belongs to the descendants 
of Cain. 

The whole tradition of the Garden of Eden, with its 
trees of life and knowledge, is based on the Babylonian 
tree worship, especially associated with Eridu. The Yaveh 
of Hebrew tradition is an agricultural god, who plants his 
garden in Eden. The name Eden is the Sumerian Edina 
(=8*Y ><Y.), the equivalent of the Semitic Zeru, “open 
land,” plain, desert, and especially applied to the lowlands 
of South Chaldea. The garden is planted by him (Gen. 
ii. 8), and man is appointed to till it exactly as a 
Babylonian landlord might appoint his gardener (Code, 
sec. 60-65), giving him his share for sustenance. “ Of 
every tree of the garden thou mayest eat freely” (Gen. 
ii, 16). It must be remembered that the profession of 
gardener was a very noble one in Babylonia. Sargon 
of Agade (B.C. 3800), according to a legend, was brought 
up as a gardener. Babylonian kings claimed the title of 
“oardener of the sacred tree,” and Nebuchadnezzar the 
Great calls himself the “ gardener of Babylon.” 

There is an important inscription in the British Museum, 
which has often been quoted, which relates to the sacred 
grove of Eridu and the sacred tree which grew there. 
This text, with considerable additions, has just been 
published by Mr. Campbell Thompson, in his work on 
“Babylonian Devils and Evil Spirits,’ and with some 
valuable comments— 


“Tn Eridu groweth the dark kiskanu, 
That groweth up in a holy place. 
Its summit was bright lapis ; 

It stretcheth into the ocean (abyss) 
From Ea, its path was in Eridu 
Bountiful in luxuriance. 

Its site is the place of the Earth 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 75 


It is the place of the couch of the goddess JD. 

In a holy abode like a forest grove. 

Its shade spreadeth, and none may enter it, 

Within it are Samas and Tammuz. 

At the mouth of two rivers 

The gods Ka-khegal, Si-dugal . . . of Eridu 

Have gathered this 4zshanz (tree). 

They have recited the Incantation of the Deep. 

At the head of the wanderer (delirious one) they have set it, 
That a propitious Guardian and a favourable Spirit 
May stand at the side of the man the son of his god.” 

This text needs little examination to show its import- 
ance. Mr. Thompson, in his work, has tried to show that 
the old idea of Professor Sayce, Dr. Pinchas, and others, 
that saw in this a record of the Garden of Eden, is wrong. 
In this he has been successful to a certain extent, but at the 
same time the inscription has a distinct bearing on the 
Eden tradition. What we have here is not a description 
of a sacred garden, but of the sacred grove of Eridu—the 
seat of the worship of the tree-gods Giz-zida and Tammuz. 
In the text the tree is called by the Sumerian Gis-hin 
(=Y JEM, and the Semitic K7s £a-nu-w is but a modified 
form of the word. Now, Giz-kiz means a “tree trunk,” 
and this sacred trunk may be represented symbolically by 
the brick pillars set up before or in the temple of Ea. 

As I have already said, the tradition of the connection 
between Eridu and the river mouths is preserved in the 
modern name Abi-Sharain, “father of two mouths.” It 
must be remembered that when this poem was written 
there were four rivers that flowed into the sea by separate 
mouths, namely, the Tigris, the Euphrates, Karun, Kerkha. 
So that to a people who believed in the holiness of river 
mouths this would be a specially sacred region. 

There is no reason to regard this as a description of 
the Garden of Eden, which is purely legendary, but that 


70 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


this tradition supplied the writer of Genesis with the basis 
of his description of the garden planted by Yaveh in Eden 
is very probable. 

Although not directly mentioned in this inscription, 
there appears to have been a river associated with this 
sacred garden or grove, and this is probably represented 
by “the channel of the house of the deep restored by 
Khammurabi.” This was the mythic river of creation, an 
interesting fragment relating to which has recently been 
published by Mr. King,* which reads— 


“O thou river, thou didst create all things. 

When the great gods dug thee out, 

On thy banks they placed prosperity. 

Within thee Ea, King of the Ocean, created his dwelling. 

The Deluge they sent not before thou wert. 

Fire and wrath, splendour and terror, have Ea and Asar 
(Marduk), the good being, presented to thee. 

Thou judgest the cause of mankind, 

O river, thou art mighty ; O river, thou art supreme ; O 
river, thou art righteous.” 


This is evidently the divine or holy river by which 
the “ordeal of water” was performed, and it was after- 
wards identified with the Euphrates. It is upon material 
such as these, and we must remember that Ur, the birth- 
place of Abram, was only a few miles away from the 
sacred city of Eridu, that the Hebrew writer founded his 
story of Eden and the river of life and the sacred trees. 

The story of the Fall has not yet been found on the 
tablets, but it is one which we may yet hope to find. 

After the Fall and the expulsion from Eden, the 
Hebrew legend of civilization begins. Yaveh is no longer 

* King, “Seven Tablets of Creation,” p. 129. 

+ The tablet which I thought related to the Fall, and which I 


published in “ Bible and the Monuments,” is now found to be part of 
the Creation series. 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 4 | 


the patron of agriculture, extending his divine favour to 
his sacred garden, from which man is driven forth. Man 
must now extract his sustenance from an unwilling Earth, 
upon which the curse of God rests. The words used 
by the Hebrew writer are remarkable: “Cursed be the 
ground for thy sake; by toil shalt thou eat of it all the 
days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring 
forth to thee; and thou shalt eat of the herb of the field ; 
in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” (Gen. iii. 
i7, 18). 

This curse finds an almost exact parallel in a tablet 
of Ea cycles. It relates to a certain Atarpi,* who had 
offended the god Ea in some way, and for whose sake a 
curse is put upon the earth. We read— 

** He turned to mankind. 

From their stomachs he minished vegetables. 

On high Adar (Rain-god) drank up his rains. 

The field was barren, and there was no water in the fountains. 

Destroyed was the wealth of the Harvest-god, devastated the 

fields. 

The open land (Edina) was rebellious and produced blackness ; 


Vegetables sprung not up, no corn grew, 
Upon all men was fever and (pestilence ?)” 


This text, short as it is, contains all the essential features 
of the curse in Genesis iii.17,18. Such terrible visitations 
of drought and famine often occurred in Babylonia, and 
would be assigned to divine anger. Thus man goes forth 
to battle against nature, to struggle for existence, and 
to adapt himself to his envirohment; and with this the 
Hebrew legend of civilization begins. We shall see, as we 
have already in the Eden tradition, how largely the writer 
has drawn on Babylonia for his material. 

Man now has to face the struggle for existence, and in 


* Read by Jensen Atar-Khasis (“ Schrade Heilinschrift,” Bib., 
Band. vi., Helft. 1, pp. 275-289). 


78 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


the form of a genealogy the author traces the gradual 
development of civilization. To Adam are born two 
children—Cain and Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, 
and Cain a tiller of the ground (Gen. iv. 3). Here, then, 
we have two important characters: for in Cain we have 
the eponymous hero of the settler, or agriculturalist ; and 
in Abel, that of the nomads or shepherds. It is almost 
the earliest division of the human race; and the rivalry 
between the two exists in all time. The quarrel between 
the two brothers is found in many forms in Hebrew, 
Arabic, and Babylonian literature. It repeats itself in the 
quarrel between Esau, the hunter, and Jacob with mess of 
pottage, the cultivator of the soil (Gen. xxv. 27, 34). 

It is the feud which exists to this day between the 
Bedouin shepherds and the fellaheen, between the wandering 
nomad and the townsman. 

This love of nomad life marks the character of the 
Yaveh of the early Hebrew writings. He is essentially 
a desert-god, living in the rocky solitudes of Sinai or 
Horeb ; his most devoted ministers are schooled in the 
solitude of the desert, where he alone is to be found. 
Moses encounters him in the burning bush on the slopes 
of Horeb (Exod. iii. 1-12). Elijah, in the solitude of the 
same desert, has his vision in the cave. Elijah is the most 
typical representative of this nomad spirit of the early 
Hebrew writings. This strange figure coming from the 
wilds, with the scent of the desert in his hair and his beard, 
clad with a camel’s-hair garment and girt with a leather 
girdle, is a living embodiment of the nomad, and a stern 
protest against civilization as represented by the rich-robed 
and painted Phoenician Jezebel (1 Kings xxi. 17-29). This 
same spirit, again, is definitely associated with Yaveh in the 
rebuke of Nathan to David, when he proposed to build 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 79 


the temple (2 Sam. vii. 5). The words of the prophet are 
very remarkable. “Thus saith Yaveh, Shalt thou build 
me an house for me to dwell in? for I have not dwelt 
in an house since the day that I brought up the children 
of Israel out of Egypt, even unto this day, but have 
walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all places wherein 
I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a 
word with any of the tribes of Israel, saying, Why have 
ye not built me a house of cedar?” Here we see the 
nomadic character of Yaveh most clearly stated, and his 
opposition to the influence of Phoenicia in causing the 
Hebrew king to build palaces and a temple in Jerusalem. 

But the feud represented in the rivalry between Cain 
and Abel, and the protest of the nomadism of Yaveh, 
could have but one ending—the shepherd must succumb 
to the settler; and so it is Cain, the agriculturalist, who 
defeats the shepherd Abel; and it is in the line of the 
settler that the progress of civilization is continued. 

The episode of the banishment of Cain recorded in 
Genesis iv. is quite in accordance with the Babylonian 
custom of the expulsion of one who had violated the 
family tie; while setting a mark upon Cain would seem 
to be associated with the custom of branding. Cain flees 
to the land of Nod, eastward from Eden (Gen. iv. 16). 
This passage now becomes clear in the light which the 
monuments throw upon the beginnings of Babylonian 
civilization. The word Nod is the Wadu of the inscrip- 
tions—that is, the “land of the wanderers,” the mazda, or 
“barbarians,” the very region where we have seen the 
Babylonian civilization grow up. 

The next step on the path of civilization is the building 
of the first city. “And Cain knew his wife ; and she con- 
ceived, and bare Enoch: and builded a city, and called the 


80 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


name of that city, after the name of his son, Enoch” 
(Gen. iv. 17, 18). This name Enoch, or Khenoch (73m), 
has no satisfactory Hebrew etymology, but fortunately the 
records of Babylonia afford one. The guttural n here 
represents the Sumerian y, and so Enoch, or Khenoch, is 
the exact equivalent of the old Sumerian =(x<]. (Unug 
anuk), which passed into Semitic Babylonian as Uraik 
(Erech), the word for city, and especially for the ancient 
capital of Nimrod. Erech, the city par excellence. This 
word appears as a component element in many names, 
such as Ur unug (Eas =X] <E].), moon-dwelling or 
city; Ur, the home of Abram, or “] r(x] <&J.; Ud 
wnug (sun and city); Larsa, the southern Heliopolis. It 
will be seen, then, that the Hebrew writer uses the typical 
Sumerian word for “city,” as the name of this first of 
cities. In the same way Irad (7)'y) is Eridu, the E72 
dugga, or Eridu, of the inscriptions, the holy city of the 
Sumerians. 

We come now to a very important group of charmer 
associated with the invention of the arts of utility and 


pleasure. 
LAMECH. 
| al 
Adah. Zillah. 
| 
| | : 
Jabal. Jubal. Tubal-cain. 
(Shepherd.) (Music.) (Metal-working.) 


We have already seen how the Babylonian legend of 
the development of the fine arts was associated with Ea, 
who was “lord of the metal workers, sculptors,” etc. Here 
we seem to have a tradition which originated in the school 
of Ur, the centre of moon-worship. Lamech (qn) is 
evidently the Sumerian Lamga, on which we have a most 
interesting gloss in one of the lexicographical tablets 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 81 


(WAI. 11.) Y (C77 EWS) 7 <|-- <Q), with the addi- 
tional gloss -<] =YVJs <J--}}<J = ><] --] =]yJs.. Lamga 
= Sin, the moon-god. But Lamga is again explained as 
equivalent to Na-ga-ar (Nagar, “the artisan”), a word of 
Sumerian origin, so that as Ea was the artisan, god of 
Eridu, so Sin held the same position in Ur. The two 
wives of Lamech are certainly lunar names—Adah, “the 
brightness,” and Zillah, “the shade.” Of the connection 
between moon-worship and pastoral life we have many 
proofs from the inscriptions. 

In a very beautiful hymn to Nannar, the moon-god 
of Ur, the pastoral Semitic is clearly maintained. The 
moon is called “the mighty bull (dur zkdu), great of 
horns, perfect of form, with long flowing beard, bright 
as crystal.” The moon-god is often represented on the 
seals—an old man with a long flowing beard. The 
hymn proceeds— 


“Tn heaven, who is exalted? Thou alone art exalted. 

On earth, who is exalted? Thou alone art exalted. 

Thy word is declared in heaven, and the spirits prostrate themselves. 

Thy word is declared on earth, and the spirits of earth kiss the 
ground. 

Thy word streams out on high like a storm-wind spreads abroad, 
and fertility is poured out.* 

Thy word is established on earth, and vegetation sprouts forth. 

Thy word spreads over stall and sheepfold, and life is increased.” 


The two personages born of Lamech and Adah are 
evidently eponymous heroes of the shepherd class—the 
one typical of the pastoral life, the other the patron of 
music, which has always been associated in ancient culture 
systems with the shepherd. Two small fragments of 
old-folk poems, which have been incorporated into the 


* A reference to the cool rain and night dews. 
G 


82 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Babylonian epic, may be quoted here as repeating again 
the rivalry between the shepherd and the agriculturalist. 
Gilgames is rebuking the goddess Istar for her cruel 
treatment of her lovers. After a reference to the death 
of Tammuz, the poem says *— 


“Thou didst love a shepherd of the flock, 

Who continually poured out for thee libations ; 
On each day he slaughtered kids for thee, 
But thou didst smite him and turn him into a leopard ; 
So that his own sheep-boy hunted him, 
And his hounds tore him to pieces.f 

* * * * * * * 
Thou didst love Isullanu, a gardener of thy father, 
Who continually brought thee sweet dishes, 
And each day adorned thy table for thee. 
Thou didst cast thy eye upon him, and turn his mind, saying, 
“O my gardener youth, let us enjoy thy strength, 
Put forth thy hand and take mine.’ 
But the gardener spake unto thee, saying, 
‘What is this thou askest of me? 

(some lines obscure.) : 
When thou didst hear those words thou didst smite him and turn 
him into a dwarf.” 


These two fragments belong to the very oldest age 
of Babylonian literature, and were no doubt popular folk- 
legends, like the Song of Mama and other archaic poems, 
recently published by Mr. L. W. King.t In Babylonian 
mythology no god has as yet been identified as the 
special patron of music, but we know that music formed 
an important part of the temple service, and figured very 
prominently in the cult of Tammuz, “the youthful spring 
sun-god.” Among the sculptures found in Babylonia are 
two of special value as illustrating the Hebrew tradition 
of the invention of musical instruments. In the lower 

* Sixth book or tablet of the epic. 


t+ Here we have, perhaps, the original of the Greek fable of Acteon. 
{ “Select Inscriptions,” Part XVI. Plates 1-9. 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 83 


strata at Nippur there was discovered a terra-cotta plaque, 
on which a pastoral scene is represented—a shepherd 
playing a lute, while his dog is looking up, and no doubt 
accompanying his master with the usual canine howls. 
Beside the shepherd is a sheep. This is certainly the 
earliest representation of pastoral music.* The second 


) STALE ee re a a ee | 7 Ti Ve 
<= SSE EEE 


SHEPHERD AND DOGS. 


sculpture, which belongs to a later age, but which is 
unfortunately unaccompanied by any inscription, was 
found at Tel-lo, the ancient Sirpurra, and represents a 
Babylonian orchestra. 

Here we have a clear illustration of the Hebrew story 
of Jubal’s invention of music. “Jubal was the father 
(originator) of all such as handle the harp and pipe” 
(Gen. iv. 21). In the upper tier we have men with 
cymbals and pipes, while others appear to be singers, 
who clap their hands in unison, as so often represented 


* Hilprecht, “ Explorations in Bible Lands,” p. 529. 


84 THE’ FIRST OF EMPIRES 


in the Egyptian sculptures. The harp in the lower tier 
is of very primitive construction, and yet exhibits some 


MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, c77ca B.C. 3000. 


attempt at adorn- 
ment. The front 
pillar appears to 
have rested on 
the back of two 
bulls, while, as in 
the early Egyp- 
tian harps, the 
strings, of which 
there are ten, are 
far back.) The 
harpist uses his 
hand, and not a 
plectrum, as do 
the Assyrian 
harpers. 

We now come 
to the most im- 
portant develop- 
ment of civiliza- 
tion—the work- 
ing of the metals. 
As Ihave already 
said, there was no 
age in Babylonia 
when two metals, 
silver and copper, 
were not worked. 
Long prior to the 


age of Sargon of Agade (B.c. 3800) the arts of cast- 
ing and working both of these metals were known, and, 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 85 


from the artistic finish of such objects as the silver vase 
of Entemena, or the bronze lance from Sirpurra, had 
been long practised. The Hebrew tradition attributes 
the invention to Tubal-cain (»p-baim), or Tubal “the 
smith.” Here the Hebrew writer, or possibly some later 


FIGURES OF THE FIRE-GOD. 


editor, confused by the forms of Jubal and Jabal, has, I 
should say, written Jubal for Gibil, the name of the 
Babylonian fire-god, who bears the title of “the smith 
and lord of the metal-workers,” 

In all ancient religious systems the fire-god holds an 
important position. Fire was so essential to man in his 


86 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


daily life, and so associated with his material and spiritual 
welfare, that it was naturally regarded as divine and 
heaven-born. Fire, as heaven-born, was represented by 
the lightning; and so we find the heaven-fire as the 
messenger of Anu. The lightning was called “the sword 
of heaven ; the sting of heaven.” 

The earth-fire was produced by the fire-stick, the 
Aryan Pramantha, the Greek Promethenos, The use of 
the fire-stick in Babylonia is clearly indicated by the 
ideograms used for fire—->] r]-1. (“cross wood”), or 
-arl, which is explained as “ kindling wood,” “re- 
volving wood;” and the ideograph in its archaic form 
(No. 42 in table) represents the lower fire-stick with the 
kindling wood beside it. The name Gibil, which in the 
Hebrew tradition is corrupted into Jubal, is represented by 
>) ar! -YaQ. (“god of the fire-reed”). Fortunately 
we possess some valuable statues of the fire-god, which 
most conclusively prove the use of the fire-stick. 

The position of the fire-god as the patron of metal- 
working is well illustrated by a hymn to this god in the 
British Museum— 


“The fire-god, the prince, who is mighty in the land ; 
The warrior, the son of the deep, who is mighty in the land. 
O fire-god, by thy holy flame thou makest light in the darkened house. 
Thou determinest the destiny of all living things ; 
Of copper and lead thou art the purifier, 
Of silver and gold thou art the benefactor.” 


The worship of the fire-god in Babylonia presents 
considerable resemblance to that of Agni in the Vedic 
hymns. He is lord of the sacrifice ; as by his sacred flame 
he purifies all things. As the bright, darting lightning, he 
is the messenger of the gods ; above all, he is the champion 
of light, and the all-powerful enemy of darkness, and of 


BABYLONIAN CIVILIZATION 87 


the black gods and their priesthood of witches and sor- 
cerers. In the valuable series of tablets on witchcraft 
recently published by Dr. Talqvist, the fire-god is the 
most powerful agent in overcoming the spells of witch 
and wizard. And I may quote one very fine example— 


“O fire-god, great god, counsellor of the great gods, 
Guarding the sacrificial gifts of all the spirits of heaven ; 
Founder of cities, renewer of sanctuaries ; * 
Glorious light, whose command is supreme ; 
Messenger of Anu, carrying out the decrees of Bel ; 
Obedient to Bel, counsellor, exalted among the spirits of earth ; 
Mighty in battle, whose attack is powerful ; 
Without thee no sacrificial feast is spread in the temple.” 


Such is the result of the comparison of the Hebrew 
legend of civilization with the ancient records of Baby- 
lonia ; and to any candid critic it must appear impossible 
to not admit the indebtedness of the writer to Babylonian 
records. The names, many of them Sumerian, are those 
of Babylonian towns or divinities. There are passages, such 
as the curse of Yaveh upon the earth and other fragments, 
which seem almost quotations from Babylonian records; 
and the Babylonian tone is quite beyond dispute. The 
mention of iron, which was probably not known except 
in the form of meteoric iron until certainly B.C. 1500, 
indicates its late origin, but whatever conclusion may be 
arrived at, the whole account is so tinged with the mythic 
elements as to be wholly incompatible with a Mosaic 
origin. 

* A reference to the sacred hearth and ever-burning fire of the 
temple. 


CEAP TTR Sk 


EGYPT AND CHALDER 


HE very early connection, which is now proved by 
monumental evidence, between the old Sumerian 


kingdoms and the stone and copper producing 
peninsula of Sinai, naturally raises the question of a 
possible connection between the former and the earlier 
dynastic Egyptians. 

The astonishing discoveries made by M. de Morgan, 
Professor Petrie, M. Amelineau, and others, in the Nile valley 
during recent years, have thrown an entirely new light 
upon the beginning of Egyptian civilization. But a few 
years ago the starting-point of Egyptian history was 
marked by the pyramid of Medum, the burial-place of 
Senefru, the first king of the Fourth Egyptian Dynasty 
(B.C. 3700). Now, not only are the names and the me- 
morials of the principal Pharaohs of the three preceding 
dynasties restored to us, but the archeologist has carried 
his campaign far back into the dim, dreary veldt of the 
prehistoric age, and the story of Nile-land has undergone 
a retrospective enlargement beyond all former expecta- 
tions. 

Where the history recorded in picture hieroglyphs ends, 
there begins the silent story gathered from the lone 
cemeteries on the fringe of the Lybian hills, where many 


thousand years ago the aborigines of the Nile valley laid 
83 


EGYPT AND CHALDEA 89 


their dead to rest in shallow graves, veritable last resting- 
places. 

The fine example of these prehistoric burials in the 
first mummy-room of the British Museum, accompanied 
by no writing, yet tells a strangely interesting story. The 
crouching figure, with its drawn-up knees and arms, in the 
attitude of sleep, shows that there was even then in the 
minds of these first Egyptians a belief in an awakening ; 


PYRAMID OF MEDUM. 


the pots and cups, once filled with food, the flint weapons, 
the slate talismanic figures, found in the graves at Ballas, 
Nagada, and other prehistoric cemeteries, indicate a 
belief in a “larger hope,” if not in a resurrection, at least in 
a great hereafter, of which life was but the antechamber. 

The prehistoric civilization of Egypt is better illustrated 
by specimens of pottery, weapons, artistic ornaments, than 
that of almost any other race. 

Thousands of graves have been opened, and their 


rere) THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


treasures collected for our enlightenment. This is not the 
place to deal with the ethnology of this race, but all views 
are most fairly set forth by Dr. E. A. W. Budge in the 
first volume of his “ History of Egypt.” It will be sufficient 
to say that they were a fair-skinned race, with brown or 
reddish hair, and of medium height. In some departments 
of their artistic work they have never been surpassed by 
any other people of the neolithic age, to which period we 
must assign their civilization. 

No people ever executed finer work in the making and 
finishing of their flint knives and weapons. 


FLINT KNIVES AND WEAPONS 


The flint bangles and armlets show a wonderful skill 
in the manipulation of so difficult a material as flint,* 
while the curious slate figures of animals, birds, etc., show 
a strong graphic instinct and accurate modelling of animal 
forms. The representations of the human form are very 
crude, more so than any found in Chaldean art, but a late 
prehistoric ivory, representing a woman and child, has 
considerable merit. It is in their pottery that these pre- 
historic inhabitants of the Nile valley display an astonish- 
ing degree of skill, and a good appreciation of beauty 
of form and outline. The earliest ware is red, with a 
black glazed band round the mouth of the jar, this being 
produced by placing the mouth of the pot downwards 
in the kiln, and heaping the ashes over the part burnt 
black. The pottery is all hand made, and the fine col- 
lection of this ware in the Annex of the Egyptian 

* For an interesting series of specimens illustrating the making 


of an armlet, see British Museum Guide to Antiquities of the Stone 
Age, Plo Ve 


FLINT TOOLS FROM EGYPT. 


92 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Department of the British Museum shows many beautiful 
examples. There is one vase in this collection (No. 30981) 
of which I give a drawing, as it certainly enables us to 
solve the interesting problem of the way in which man 
learned to make pottery. It is a small yellow-grey clay 
vase, not too well baked. The outer portion is very rudely 
etched with a pattern of crossed lines resembling basket- 
work. It has all the appearance of having been covered 
with straw or grass basket-work when wet, and which 
has left an irregular series of marks upon it. It has, in 
fact, just such an appearance as the clay lining of a 
thrush’s nest presents when the nest is removed and the 
clay retained. Here, then, we see the interesting sequence 
which led to the making of pottery, and the use of the 
basket-pattern decoration in the earliest forms, with its 
conventional variations in later stages of artistic decora- 
tion. It is as follows :— 

Man learned the art of basket-making from a bird’s- 
nest; the clay-lined bird’s-nest suggested the water-tight, 
clay-lined basket; cooking destroyed the outer part, 
leaving a baked pot, decorated with a basket pattern ; 
hence the use of this early form of ornament. 

The sequence is here illustrated. 


OS 
oe 
y 


BIRD’S-NEST BASKET AND BASKET POT. 


There was a large vase found in the lowest strata at 
Nippur, the pre-Sargonide deposits, and therefore at least 


EGYPT AND CHALDEA 93 


as old as B.C. 4500, which shows this same basket origin, 
with the rope-like strengtheners. 

Notwithstanding their skill in the working of flint 
and the making of pottery, there were many elements of 
civilization which they had not 
acquired. They had no know- 
ledge of the art of writing, or 
the working of metals ; the few 
fragments of copper wire, etc., 
found in some of the late neo- 
lithic tombs at Ballas and Na- 
gada being probably driftings VASE FROM NIPPUR. 
from outside. Their houses were 
probably of wood, or reed shelters, and they certainly had 
no knowledge of the art of brick construction. Another 


important point is the fact that they do not appear, 
according to M. de Morgan, to have cultivated cereals, 
their food being chiefly fish and animals taken or killed 
in hunting. They dressed in the skins of animals killed 
in the chase, and the art of weaving appears to have 
been unknown. The fringed dresses figured in Budge’s 
“History of Egypt” (vol. i. p. 145) were probably tabs 
or tails of skin sewn on. The paintings in a tomb found 
at Hieraconpolis may belong to the very earliest dynastic 
age, and these show animals being caught in traps, while 
harpoons of bone and flint were used for catching fish. 

With the rise of the dynastic period, that is, the age 
represented by the tombs at Abydos, the great tomb at 
Nagada, and the art remains, slate tablets, etc., from Hiera- 
conpolis, we find the most astonishing development in the 
civilization of the Nile valley. 

Among the most important changes we notice the 
following :— 


94 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


(1) The art of writing. 

(2) The making of bricks and the construction of tombs 
evidently modelled on domestic houses. 

(3) Extensive use of clay for jar sealings and other 
purposes. 

(4) The use of the cylinder seal. 

(5) The use of copper, and the presence of gold and 
copper as well as precious stones. 

(6) The employment of stone for building and paving, 
which had been quarried and worked. 

(7) The use of staircases to enter tombs. 

(8) The style of architecture non-Egyptian, such as 
crenelated walls and buttresses. ; 

(9) The use of funeral stele to mark the tomb area. 

(10) Cultivation of cereals and other plants. 

(11) Burial of food, furniture, and probable immolation 
of servants with burial. 

(12) Worship of an anthropomorphic god, Osiris ; and 
a definite pantheon. 

(13) Grouping of tombs round the central tomb, or 
temple tomb, of the god. 

The majority of these new elements are of such a 
nature as to prevent our looking upon them as natural 
developments which grew up in the Nile valley. The 
writing, even of the earliest inscriptions, shows clear in- 
dications of having been long in use; the employment 
of phonetics and determinations clearly show the purely 
pictorial forms of the archaic cuneiform as shown in the 
Table (p. 57), and the Egyptian hieroglyphics ; but it is 
impossible to agree with Professor Hommel in regarding 
the Egyptian as derived from Babylonia. Pictorial systems 
of writing usually reflect the environment of the people 
using them, and in this respect there is a vast difference 


EGYPT AND CHALDEA 95 


between the two systems. To take only a few examples. 
The Babylonian sign for water (])) represents raindrops ; 
the Egyptian, won (the sea waves). The Babylonian sign 
for heaven, s% (a star); the Egyptian, — > (the cover- 
ing vault of heaven). The Babylonian land sign, +“ (a 
mountain) ; the Egyptian, —— (the flat surface of the 
Nile valley). The Babylonian sign for god, “a star ;” the 
Egyptian, “an axe;” and many others might be quoted. 
If there is any relation between the two systems, it must 
be traced to some parent system far back in antiquity, and 
of such a system we know nothing. 

All authorities are agreed that the dynastic Egyptians, 
whether they consisted of one or more immigrations, came 
from the east. Tradition points to the land of Punt, that 
is, the Somali coast, and probably the opposite shores of 
the Red Sea, as the source of one band of colonists. 
These we may identify with colonists who entered the 
Nile valley by the Keneh Kossair road through the Wady 
Hammanat, and whose earliest remains were found at 
Koptos. They bring with them the worship of the ithy- 
phaltic god Amsu-Min, whose fetish-pole, decorated with 
ostrich feathers, Red Sea shells, and swordfish, was found 
upon the archaic figures discovered by Professor Petrie. 
We have no real knowledge of the civilization of these 
immigrants, and certainly many elements in the preceding 
table cannot be assigned to them. It is of no use to 
look to the Lybian side for any important influence; we 
must therefore look elsewhere. 

The most important help is afforded us by the brick- 
work and the extensive use of clay. The art of brick- 
making could never have originated in the Nile valley, 
for Nile mud, although it will make bricks, is by no means 
a first-class material. Again, the construction of tombs, 


96 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


such as those of Zer, Mer-neit, shows that the people who 
constructed them had long been in the habit of erecting 
brick buildings. 

The brick-builders of the ancient world par excellence 
were the Babylonians, and it is to them that we must turn 


ROYAL TOMB OF NAGADA. 


to see if any similarity can be found between the work at 
Abydos and that of the most ancient edifices of Chaldea. 
In the first place, as to the bricks themselves, there 
is an important point to be noticed. We are so familiar 
with the large square tile-brick of the post-Sargon times 
in Babylonia, that we are not inclined to think of any 
others. The excavations at Nippur have revealed an 
interesting series of evolutionary stages in the brick- 
making of Babylonia. _ On this point I may quote the 


EGYPT AND CHALDEA 97 


words of Professor Hilprecht: “In the earliest Sumerian 
stratum we recognize six phases of historical development 
by means of the different kinds of bricks employed. The 
first is characterized by an entire absence of baked bricks, 
and the exclusive use of adobes. The earliest bricks are 
very small, flat on the lower surface, and strongly rounded 
on the upper side, with generally also a thumb-mark. 
They look more like rubble or quarry stones, in imitation 


TOMB OF MER NEIT. BUILDING OF UR NINA. 


of which they were made (Gen. xi. 3), than the artificial 
products of man.” * 

Professor Hilprecht has given the sizes of these small 
pre-Sargonide bricks, and their dimensions are 8} x 523 x 
21,10} X 7 X 23; while Professor Petrie gives the dimen- 
sions of the Abydos bricks as 89 x 4°5 X 3 and 9°6 x 
4'9 X 3 the average. Thus we see an almost complete 
agreement in the style of brick employed. 

Now as to the earlier tombs. They are large square 
buildings, accessible only from the top, exactly resembling 
the great brick edifices of the age of Ur Nina at Tello in 
Sirpurra, and where the construction of these edifices is 
compared, resemblances are most striking. 


* « Texplorations in Bible Lands,” p. 542. 
H 


98 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


These Chaldean buildings, of which examples were 
found at Tello or Nippur, were chiefly used as record 
chambers and treasuries, and were entered only through 
the roof by a species of manhole.* In the treasury of 
Ur Nina, discovered 
by De Sarzec at Tello, 
as shown above, there 
was a curious passage 
running round the 
inner wall, as in the 
tomb of Per-ab-sen at 
Abydos (Petrie, “ Royal 
Tombs," il ips 
Indeed, although there 
was a difference in the 
purpose of the Chal- 
dean and Egyptian 
buildings, one cannot 
help being struck by 
the very marked simi- 


STAIRCASE IN TOMB OF DEN. larity of design. 
Next, we must 
notice a decided affinity in the style of architecture in 
the extensive use of buttresses and recess panels, as in 
the great tomb supposed to be that of Mena, found by 
M. de Morgan at Nagada, and which might, in general 
plan, be taken to be a Chaldean building.t 


* Hilprecht, ‘‘ Explorations in Bible Lands,” pp. 390-92. 

+ The double walls were of special importance. They excluded 
the heat of summer and winter humidity, and thus kept the stores 
dry, while both in Egypt and Chaldea they protected the buildings 
from being broken into from outside. 

t See illustration, p. 96. 


EGYPT AND CHALDEA 99 


This also is to be seen in the enormous recesses in 
the tombs of Zet at Abydos.* 

The use of the staircase was known very early in 
Chaldea, and in the building of Ur Nina at Tello, which 
we cannot reasonably place later than B.C. 4500, and 
possibly earlier, we have a good example which we may 
compare with that in the tomb of Den. There was a 
very complete staircase discovered by Mr. Taylor at 
Eridu. 


STAIRCASE AT ERIDU. 


The new-comers not only exhibited in their extensive 
use of brick-work a knowledge of the value of clay, which 
could hardly have been acquired in the Nile valley, but 
they used clay very extensively for other purposes, 
especially for closing and stopping the large jars con- 
taining funeral offerings, and the peculiar conical shape 
of the large stoppings calls to mind the clay cones of 
Babylonia. 

The cylindrical seal was undoubtedly a Chaldean 
invention, and was in use certainly as early as B.C. 3800, 
as we have many seals of the period, including that of 


* Petrie, ‘ Royal Tombs,” Part I. p. 63 


100 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Ibni Sarru, his librarian. Of the use of the seal at this 
period, a most interesting proof is afforded by the dis- 
covery of a number of pieces of clay impressed with 
seals at Tello; these have been published by M. Thureau 
Dangin,* and the following are the best examples. These 
seals are by no means primitive in workmanship, and 
therefore presuppose a long use of this important object. 


SEALS B.C. 3800. +t 


The seal found in the tomb of Zer shows a distinct 
resemblance to the Babylonian examples of the oldest 
type, and seems to be another connecting-link between 
these two ancient civilizations. With the cylinder seal 
came the brick stamp, which was in use in Babylonia 
at a very early period, those of Sargon and Naram Sin 
(B.C. 3800) having been found at Nippur. 


* Thureau Dangin, ‘‘Tablettes Chaldéenes Inédites,” Pt. VII.- 
VIII. 

+ As these seals bear sculptured representations of the heroic 
deeds of Gilgames and his companion Ea-bani, as recorded in the 
Chaldean epic, it is evident that that poem was as old as the age of 
Sargon I. 


‘LdADa ‘ALSVNAC LSI ‘VM 10 STVAS AVTO 


Cape ae SS PEER SIN ON Se ATL PSR 202 wPilar> 
— Fe Rape a : Na ad ns Saat aia 
. 
> 


EGYPT AND CHALDEA 103 


Another innovation, which we may attribute to foreign, 
and possibly Chaldean, influence, was the funeral stele. 
The Babylonians looked upon the stele as one of the 
most sacred objects, as protecting the rights of both the 
dead and the living 
to the land or the 
grave. Ina curious 
funeral text in the 
British Museum,* 
with which I shall 
deal more fully 
anon, the King 
says, “ The grave- 
stone which marked his resting-place, with mighty bronze 
I sealed to its entrance.” 

The setting up of these steles, as marking boundaries 
and commemorating events, was one of the Babylonian 
customs. On the very archaic inscribed cones of Ente- 
mena, Viceroy of Sirpurra, about B.C. 4500, we have 
mention of steles set up to mark the frontiers of the civic 
kingdom.t The Babylonian steles were of two kinds, the 
mai] ~<] SS J}. (aban narua, or “worked stones”), similar 
to the limestone stele at Abydos, or the stele of Mer Neit, 
and the boulder, or rough stone, only sufficiently shaped 
to receive the inscription. These were called JE =x] Y7. 
(kudurrz), or “ boundary stones,” no doubt the survival of 
the “ boulder stone” once set up to mark private property, 
like the Hebrew stone of witness. The stele of Per-ab-Sen 
found at Abydos bears a close resemblance to this class 
of stele. It is here placed side by side with a Babylonian 
example. 

It is evident that the persons who carved and shaped 


EARLY BABYLONIAN SEAL. 


= Seep. Pili. f See p. 125. 


104 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


these steles had had considerable experience in the art 
of working stone, of which the prehistoric Egyptians had 
no acquaintance whatever. Such work must have required 
metal tools, and these, both practical and in miniature, 


STELE OF PER-AB-SEN (ABYDOS). BOUNDARY STONE OF METI-SIKHU 
(B.C. 1300). 


as funeral deposits, were found in large numbers at 
Abydos.* This custom of the placing of models of 


* Petrie, “ Royal Tombs,” II. p. 28. 


EGYPT AND CHALDEA 105 


implements in use on earth in the tombs of the dead was 
also current in Chaldea, for Mr. Taylor found in the ruins 
of Abu Sharain, the ancient Eridu, small clay models of 
hoes, sickles, nails, and other tools, which had, no doubt, 
been deposited with the dead.* 

The nearest copper-producing region to Egypt was 
the peninsula of Sinai, and here, from remotest ages, men 
had quarried for hard stone and copper, and also for the 
much-prized turquoise, the mafka of the Egyptians, the 
samu, or “blue stone,” of the Babylonians. To this region 
Ur Nina had sent for hard stone, and for hard woods, 
and until late the region was well wooded with acacia and 
other trees, these having been destroyed for making 
charcoal.f 

These expeditions would be about B.C. 4500, most 
probably earlier, so that Egypt and Sinai would then 
meet in these regions. Some seven centuries later 
Naram Sin conquered the land of Maganna, while 
about B.C. 2800 Gudea was obtaining porphyry, diorite, 
and other hard stones from this region for making his 
statues. Perhaps we may see a distinct conflict between 
the two most ancient kingdoms, when Senefru (B.C. 3700) 
drove out the foreigners from Sinai and _ regained 
possession of the mines. In his inscription he states 
that he drove out these foreigners (the Annu) and 
took possession of the mines. That the builders of 
the tombs at Abydos had considerable knowledge of 
the art of quarrying hard stone is shown by the 
granite paving in the tomb of Den Setui, the fourth 
king of the First Dynasty at Abydos,t and the stone 


* Taylor, J. R. A. S., vol. xv. (1855), p. 415, e¢ seg. 
+ Harper, ‘‘ Bible Lands,” p. 457. 
ft Petrie, ‘“‘ Royal Tombs,” II. p. 9. 


106 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


inner chamber of the tomb of Zer. In the tomb of 
Zer, whom we may identify, according to Professor Petrie, 
with Teta, the second king of the First Dynasty, we have 
some valuable evidence as to this early quarry-work. He 
says, “The blocks of stone are all fresh quarried, being 
soft, and dragging under the tool when dressed. The 
natural cleavages are used as far as possible, and often 
half a face will be a cleavage, and the rest hammer- 
dressed. All the adze-dressed faces were entirely dressed. 
The adze had a short handle, as seen by the radius of the 
curvature of the cuts; and the cutting-edge was of flint, 
not copper, as seen by examining the marks of dressing 
with a magnifier.”* Here, then, we have an interesting 
example of the stone and metal ages, for the stone could 
hardly be quarried with flint tools, but was dressed with 
them. But this overlapping of the stone and bronze 
ages in Egypt is often seen until much later times. Ina 
quarry of the time of Teta of the Sixth Dynasty, which I 
visited in 1893, both bronze chisels and stone hammers 
for dressing were found. 

There is another but later feature in Egyptian arche- 
ology which we may probably trace to the influence of this 
Sinaitic mining population. The inhabitants of that region 


were divided into two classes: the Annu a 
nN 


or “stone cutters,” and the Mentiu hf tp. or “cave 


dwellers ”—the “troglodytes.” Just as the brick-built and 
chambered tomb presupposes a people dwelling in brick- 
built houses, so the rock-cut tomb indicates a cave-dwelling 
population, and it is difficult to see where else than Sinai 
we are to look for these. So the evidence of a connection 


* Petrie, ‘‘ Royal Tombs,” II. p. 13. 


BOYER MAND CHALDEA 107 


between Sinai and the early dynastic builders at Abydos 
seems established ; and if this connection existed, it also 
implies a contact with the oldest civilization of Chaldea— 
certainly from B.C. 4500 to B.C. 3800. 

I now come to the most important new feature—the 
introduction of wheat and other cereals. As M. de 
Morgan has shown, wheat was not found in the pre- 
dynastic tombs of Egypt, nor is it indigenous to that 
land, but was introduced into the Nile valley from the 
east. The botanical researches of De Candole,* Dr. 
Schweinfurt, and others, have shown that the indigenous 
home of wheat was on the western slopes of the Persian 
Apennines, and the discovery of the harvest settlements 
in the lower strata at Susa, with the heaps of sickle- 
teeth, would show that cereals were cultivated here prior 
to their introduction into Babylonia. There is no trace 
of cereals in deposits of the prehistoric graves, though 
some of the later graves, which perhaps overlapped the 
dynastic age, at Ballas and Nagada, contain sickle-teeth 
and corn-rubbers. The Egyptian corn-god was Nepera 
(a Ri ©), a name which has a foreign sound, and which 


seems to me to be derived from the Babylonian eburu 
(“in-gathering, produce of the field, harvest”). As we have 
seen, in Babylonia the growing of corn was associated 
with Asari, that is, Ea, and later Merodach; and so in 
Egypt we find it associated with Osiris, from whose body 
wheat is represented growing.| The oldest divinity of 
corn in Babylonia was the goddess Wissaba (--] EEtxay ), 
whose name is a compound ideogram, meaning “corn- 
gathering,” and which is explained in the Semitic by 
Serakh (“the harvest goddess ”). This goddess we find 


* Candole, “ The Origin of Cultivated Plants.” 
{ Lanzoni, “ Mythological Dict.,” pl. 46. 


108 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


invoked by the earliest Babylonian rulers. Another 
introduction of the harvest-god by the immigrants from 
Western Asia would be most natural. 

With the advent of the dynastic Egyptians we have 
a very considerable change in the funereal customs. Here 


DEMON OF SOUTH-WEST WIND. 


we see again a very close similarity to the Babylonian 
methods. Much light has been thrown upon Babylonian 
eschatology recently, especially by the publication by Mr. 
Thompson, of the British Museum, of the Babylonian 


EGYPT AND CHALDEA 109 


tablets on Demonology and Magic.* These valuable 
inscriptions belong to a very early age, and were copied 
and translated by the Semitic scribes. The soul, accord- 
ing to the Babylonians, was called ekimmu (EV¥ XY =8.), 
“that which is snatched away,” and which in all its essential 
features resembles the Egyptian ka =) or double. 


Closely associated with the ekimmu was the wtiuk 
(=I [.), which seems to have been a transparent form, 
or double, of the dead. In the magical tablets the uttuwk 
is said to come forth from the grave like “a wind-gust,” 
an idea which seems to me to be derived from the “ dust- 
clouds,” or “whirling pillars of dust,” like water-spouts 
which often float over the deserts and cemeteries in the 
East. 

Like the Egyptian fa, the ekimmu lived on the 
funeral offerings which were placed in the tombs. If 
these were not supplied, the restless spirit wandered forth 
in search of food, or was compelled to subsist on the 
garbage of the streets. These starving spirits were a 
great terror to the living, and much of the magical 
literature consists of exorcisms against them. We read, 
for example— 


“The gods who seize upon man 
Have come forth from the grave. 
The evil wind-gusts 
Have come forth from the grave. 
To demand the payment of rites and pouring out of libations 
They have come forth from the grave. 
All that is evil, in their host like a whirlwind has come forth.’ 


The state of the unburied one, or one whose funeral 
offerings were not maintained, is well described in the 
Chaldean epic (tab. xii.)— 


* Thompson, “ Babylonian Devils and Evil Spirits,” p. xxix. e¢ seg. 


I1O THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


“The man whose corpse lieth in the desert, 
Thou and I have often seen such a one ; 
His spirit resteth not on earth. 
The man whose spirit hath none to care for it, 
Thou and I have often seen such a one. 
The dregs of the cup, the leavings of the feast, 
And that which is cast into the street, are his food.” 


In the tablet of the descent of Istar into Hades the 
same state of the neglected dead is referred to. Where 
Allat or Eris-Kigal, “the bride of the pit,” the wife of 
Nergal, the god of death, threatens to punish one, saying— 


“T will curse thee with a terrible curse. 
Food from the gutters of the city shall be thy nourishment. 
The sewers of the city shall supply thy drink. 
The shadow of the wall shall be thy seat. 
Exile and banishment shall crush thy strength.” 


The most dreaded punishment to be inflicted on a 
man was to lie unburied on the field. In the curses 
which form the epilogue of the code of Khammurabi, we 
read, “May Istar create trouble and rebellion for him, 
strike down his warriors, so that the earth drinks their 
blood, and heaps of the corpses of his army may she 
heap (upon the field) ; may his soldiers never have graves.” 
The fate of those that had no funeral rites is again given 
in a magical text— 

“Whether thou art the ghost of one unburied, 
Or a ghost that none provideth for, 
Or a ghost that none pour libations for it, 
Or a ghost that has no posterity.” * 

Here we have an exact agreement with the custom of 
ancient Egypt, and the necessity for funereal offerings, 
and for pure and good things for the deceased in the 


grave. 


* That had no relations to provide the funeral offerings. 


EGYPT AND CHALDEA III 


This dread of impure food is constantly repeated in 
the Book of the Dead and in the funeral inscriptions. 
For example, we have a chapter (LII.) called ‘‘the chapter 
of not eating filth in the underworld,’ where we read, 
“That which is an abomination unto me let me not eat.” 
Again, “ Let me not eat filth, let me not drink foul water. 
I eat of that which the gods eat, I live upon that which 
they live upon, I eat of the cakes which are in the hall 
of the lord of sepulchral offerings.” Or take the beautiful 


prayer in the funeral stele in the possession of Lady 
Meux— 


so TAB TULB RA TU blesc 


ee Nts toto 
ee ry 


“May they give funeral offerings of bread, beer, oxen 
and fowl, incense, cool water, wax and linen bandages, 
all pure and pleasant things, that heaven gives or earth 
produces, or the Nile brings forth from his storehouse, the 
sweet north wind to the soul of the deceased.” 

The funeral customs of Babylonia, like those of Egypt, 
were stereotyped at an early period, and changed but 
little. Among the inscriptions in the British Museum 
is a very interesting tablet which describes the funeral of 
an Assyrian king, possibly, I think, Esarhaddon. It 
reads— 

“Within the grave, the secret place, in kingly oil I 
laid him. The gravestone which marked his resting- 
place with mighty bronze I fastened its entrance. I 
protected it with an incantation ; vessels of silver and gold 


112 THE FIRST OF EMPIRGS 


such as my father loved, all the furniture that befitted the 
grave, the due right of his sovereignty, I displayed before 
the sun-god. And beside the father who begat me I set 
them on the grave. Gifts unto the princes, unto the spirits 
of earth, and to the gods who inhabit the grave, I 
presented.” * 

Here we have all the essential features of the Egyptian 
royal burial—the placing the body in oil, some form of 
embalmment, the erection of the funeral stele, and the 
lavish gifts of funeral furniture and offerings to the 
gods of Amenti. The displaying of the treasures to 
the sun-god, who, like the Egyptian Ra, was the god 
of the resurrection, was a species of consecration. As 
yet we have not found any trace of an Assyrian royal 
tomb or of a Babylonian one of a king of either the 
Middle or Late Empire; but that the burial customs 
very closely resembled those of Egypt there seems very 
little doubt. 

A great light has been thrown upon ancient burial 
customs of the Babylonians by the explorations at Nippur, 
so splendidly carried out by the American expedition 
under Dr. Hilprecht, and by the German expedition under 
Dr. Koldoweh at El Hibba. The burials were of two 
kinds, “body graves” and “ash burials,” but in both cases 
fire was employed, though in later times it was only 
pontial or symbolical. The process seems to have been 
as follows :— 

The selected spot was first levelled, and remains of 
any previous cremations removed. The body was then 
wrapped in reed mats, laid on the ground, and covered 
over with rudely formed bricks or a layer of soft clay. 
The latter was quite thin in the upper parts, but thicker 


* King’s “ Babylonian Religion,” p. 48. 


BGY PE, AND (CHALDEA: 113 


near the ground, so that as little resistance as possible 
was offered to the heat attacking the body from above, 
while at the same time the covering retained the solidity 
necessary to prevent too early a collapse under the weight 
of fuel heaped upon it. Weapons, utensils, cylinder seats, 
food and drink, and similar objects, were deposited at 
various times in the tomb. In many cases the ashes were 
merely collected in a heap and covered with a kettle- 
formed vessel. These resemble the heap burials at Hu 
and El Amrah in Egypt. Burials of this kind are called 
“ ash graves,” and are the more common and more ancient 
at Serghul and El Hibba. The urns of common people 
were deposited anywhere in the mound, while rich families 
had special houses erected for them. In the pre-Sargonide 
necropolis found by Hilprecht at Nippur most interesting 
discoveries were made. The explorer says, “I gathered 
sufficient evidence to show that all these ashbeds, occurring 
in a stratum twenty-five to thirty feet deep, on all four 
sides of the ziggurat (stage-tower), are to be regarded as 
places where human bodies had been cremated. The 
thousands of urns discovered above and below them, and 
as a rule badly crushed, but in some cases well preserved, 
are funeral vases in which ashes and bones left after the 
cremation, together with objects once dear to* the person, 
together with food and drink, were placed and buried. 
The fragments of walls and rooms repeatedly met with 
in this lower strata, and always containing whole or broken 
urns, are the remains of tombs or funeral chambers.” + 

A curious feature of these ancient necropoli was the 


* A curious parallel with Egypt was found by Taylor at Eridu, in 
the burial of clay models of tools, axes, sickles, mattocks, etc., in the 
tombs. 


+ Hilprecht, “ Explorations in Bible Lands,” p. 456 e¢ seg. 
I 


114 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


discovery of drains communicating with tombs and wells 
in the cemetery to supply the deceased with the much- 
desired “ pure water.” More important than the discovery 
of these towns of the dead was their arrangement. It 
was noticed at El Hibba and Serghul by Dr. Koldoweh, and 
by Dr. Hilprecht at Nippur and other sites of the pre- 
Sargonide age, that the centre of the necropolis was 
always marked by a ziggurat, or stage-tower. This raises 


J a 

- 1 er eee 
fe i pe 
Ce PRIESTS SSS 


CHALDEAN TOMB FROM MUGHIER (UR). 


the important question, was the stage-tower really a tomb 
of great importance—either that of a god or a divine 
king? If so, then we have a most striking parallel to 
the arrangement of the Egyptian necropolis grouped 
round the tomb of the king or god. At Sakkara, round 
the stepped pyramid; at Medum, round the tomb of 
Senefru ; at Abydos, round the reputed tomb of Osiris. 
Strabo (16, 5) speaks of the great stage-tower of Babylon 
—the ziggurat of E. Sagil, the temple of Bel Marduk— 
as “the sepulchre of Bel.” So in like manner Diodorus 


PGYEE AND CHALDEA 115 


informs us that Semiramis built a tower in Nineveh, as 
a tomb of her husband Ninos. Among the inscriptions 
found at Nippur was one recording the restoration of the 
great stage-tower by Assurbanipal, which is translated by 
Dr. Hilprecht.* 

“E gingu (the house of the tomb), the stage-tower of 
Nippur, the foundations of which are placed on the breast 
of the ocean, the walls of which had grown old and fallen 
with decay, I built that house with baked bricks and 
bitumen, and completed its construction.” 

Here, then, the stage-tower at Nippur is called “the 
tomb ;” and therefore the tomb of Mullil, or Bel. Ina 
curious magical inscription recently published by Mr. 
Thompson f this is also shown, where we read, “ The evil 
spirits from the tomb have come forth, from the house of 
Bel have they come forth.” We know of other stage- 
towers that were also tombs. Gudea (B.C. 2800) speaks 
of the tomb-chamber of cedar he made for Nin Sugir in 
his temple of Lagash, or Sirpurra. From the code of 
Khammurabit we know that the stage-tower of Ai in 
Sippara was a tomb, for the king says, “ (I am he) who 
clothed with verdure the tomb of the goddess Ai (the 
bride) in Sippara ;” while Nabonidus speaks of the stage- 
tower of the temple of the sun-god of Larsa as “his 
noble tomb.” § 

It is evident that, like the pyramids of Egypt, the 
stage-tower, which formed the nucleus of the Babylonian 
temple, was regarded as the tomb of the god. 

* The question of the stage-tower tombs is very fully discussed by 
Dr. Hilprecht in “ Explorations in Bible Lands,” pp. 456-469. I 
only use such portions as relate to comparison with Egypt. 

t “Select Babylonian Inscriptions,” Pt. XVII. pl. 25, ll. 1, 2. 


$~ Code, Col. II., Il. 26-28. 
§ P.S.B.A., 1889, p. 42. 


116 THE FIRST OF EMPURiS 


The resemblance between the stepped pyramid at 
Sakkara and the Babylonian stage-towers is so striking 
that the connection between the two seems undoubted 
when we consider the arrangement of the necropoli in 
the two lands. 

It must be remembered, too, that this belief was 
current in the very oldest days of Chaldean civilization, 
and with some the belief in a tomb of Osiris at Abydos 
was a standard doctrine of the Egyptian religion, and is 


FUNERAL COUCH, 


referred to constantly in the Book of the Dead and other 
religious texts. In the pyramid texts of the sixth dynasty 
(B.C. 3200) we have Abydos spoken of as the “place 
where Osiris” was interred, and it was the desire of all 
pious Egyptians to rest near the tomb of Osiris, if only 
for a time. Probably at a very early period there had 
been a special tomb dedicated to the god, then afterwards 
represented by the temple. At the time of the eighteenth 
dynasty (B.C. 1600) the traditional tomb seems to have 
been lost, and so the tomb of King Zer was transformed 
into the resting-place of Osiris, and in this M. Amélineau 


EGYPT AND CHALDEA 117 


found the remains of a stone bed or couch on which 
the body of Osiris was represented. This couch of Osiris 
is constantly represented on the monuments and papyri. 
Usually we find the god lying on the couch, or rising from 
it with renewed life, while Isis and Nephthys stand at the 
head and foot. We cannot help comparing this scene 
with the funeral couch represented in the Babylonian 
funeral tablet referred to above, of which an enlarged 
drawing is given here. 

Here we see that Isis and Nephthys are replaced by 
two figures of Ea, or priests of that god, who are in the 
act of raising the dead to life. Herodotus, describing the 
shrine of the tomb-tower of Bel Marduk in Babylon, says, 
“On the highest tower is a large temple, and in the temple 
a large and beautifully prepared bed, and beside it a 
golden table. There is no image there, nor does any one 
watch there through the night, except a woman of the 
country, whom, as the Chaldean priests say, their god has 
chosen out of all the land.” Here the father of history is 
quite correct, for Assurbanipal speaks of the gold and 
jewelled couch he made for Marduk, while the chosen 
bride of Marduk was, no doubt, the wife of the god or 
sister of the god spoken of in the code of Khammurabi 
(sect. 182). 

Sufficient has now been said to show the marked 
resemblance between the early civilization of the Nile 
and Tigro-Euphrates valley, and to suggest that those 
important changes which mark the rise of dynastic Egypt 
are to be attributed to intercourse with the older culture 
of Chaldea. 


CHAPTER IV 
THE CITY KINGDOMS 


“ And Cush begat Nimrod : he began to be a mighty one upon the 
earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord : wherefore it is said, 
Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning 
of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Akkad, and Calneh, in the 
land of Shinar.”—GEN. x. 8-Io. 


the early days of the Babylonian empire, for although 
we have a large number of inscribed records extend- 
ing back to nearly five thousand years before the Christian 
era, and which contain brief historical statements chiefly 
relating to local wars and border raids, it is not until the 
rise of the first Semitic dynasty under Sargon of Agade, 
probably Akkad, that we begin to get any material of a 
really historical character. The discoveries made by the 
American expedition at Nippur, and by M. de Morgan 
at Susa, have shown that the records of this period, long 
regarded as mythical, have a real historic basis and value. 
It is now clearly proved that those energetic Semitic rulers 
Sargon I. and his son Naram-Sin spread the power of the 
First of Empires over the greater part of Western Asia. 
Although, at present, it is not possible to construct a 
complete history of the early dynasties of the Babylonian 
empire, there are inscriptions accessible which enable us 


to trace the main features of its growth and development 
118 


| T is not intended in this chapter to write a history of 


THE CITY KINGDOMS 119 


until the final consolidation under the first dynasty of 
Babylon, B.C. 2300. 

The valuable passage at the head of this chapter is 
like that which I have dealt with in the legend of civiliza- 
tion, one which has been written by a writer who was 
acquainted with the main features of Babylonian civiliza- 
tion and history, for it contains a curious retrospective 
synopsis of the chief epochs in Babylonian history. Taking 
the latter portion of the quotation, we find that the Hebrew 
chronicler has given four distinct periods in the history of 
the kingdom, each represented by a city, which was then 
capital of the period. His sequence is Babel, Erech, 
Akkad, and Calneh, a similar arrangement to that we 
have noticed in his account of the Assyrian kingdom ; 
and his arrangement is retrospective from the times of 
the first Babylonian dynasty— 


1. Babel See a ROMEO, ZEOO), 

2. Erech eae er 5 Bi Cy 3000-2300: 
Baeikkad, or Agade  ... 5» B.C. 3800-3500. 
AaCalnen or Nippur 7... » B.C. 4500-3800. 


This interesting sequence is not all, for there is a 
valuable record of the very earliest days of the empire 
also. 

The genealogy of Nimrod, which has long been a 
puzzle, seems at last to admit of a definite solution. The 
discoveries at Nippur show that the earliest seats of rule 
in Babylonia were Sirpurra (Tello), under a very short 
dynasty of kings, of whom the most important were 
Urnina and Urkagina; and the city of Kis ((x< <5), 
under a dynasty of powerful and warlike rulers. The 
power of this city, as I have already stated, lasted until 
the confederation of the various city kingdoms under the 


120 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


first Babylonian dynasty. The very earliest inscriptions 
of Babylonia, probably about B.C. 5000, are those found 
on broken vases in the pre-Sargonide strata at Nippur, 
and these record the wars between the kings of Kiengi, 
or Sumir—the Shinar of Genesis—and the “hordes of 
Kis.” * The earliest of these relate to a certain Ensaggus- 
anna, “the wise lord of heaven,” as Dr. Hilprecht renders 
it, who spoiled the city of Kis, to which is applied the 
epithet “the city of the evil heart.” The warfare lasted 
for a long time. We have a record of a Sumerian victory 
where the king of Kish, Ene-gul, was defeated, and his city, 
teeming with malignity, spoiled, and his statue of bright 
silver and his spoil dedicated to Mullil, the god of Nippur.t 

The most important inscriptions of the kings of Kish 
are the obelisk of Manistu-su, which has been so often 
referred to in this work, and the long and very archaic 
inscriptions engraved on a set of hard stone vases found 
at Nippur. These inscriptions are perhaps our oldest 
historical records. Much of the text is taken up with 
religious matter, but here and there we get fragments 
of historical matter. 

“To Mullil, king of the world, Lugalzaggisi, king of 
Erech, king of the world, priest of Anu, minister of Nisaba 
(corn-god), son of Ukush, patesi of Gizukh.” 

The monarch then describes the various gods who 
favoured him, and then proceeds to give us a little 
fragment of history. 

“‘Mullil, the lord of the world, made him to prosper, 

* T am inclined to think these epithets of “evil heart,” full of 
malignity, applied to Kish, indicate that the people and their lords 
were intruders who had forced their way into the land. 

t+ I cannot agree with Radau, in ‘‘Early Babylonian History,” 


p- 124, in regarding this victory as one by one of the rulers of 
Sirpurra. 


THE CITY KINGDOMS 121 


and gave him the kingship of the whole earth. When, 
then, he had entrusted to him the rule of lands from 
the rising to the setting of the sun, he subdued all from 
the Upper Sea (Mediterranean) to the Lower Sea of the 
Tigris and Euphrates,” 


TN 
ne Tens | 


EN 


OBELISK OF MANISTU-SU. 


This most ancient ruler exercised dominion over the 
cities of Ur, Erech, and Larsa. The kingdom of Kish 
was certainly the oldest in Babylonia. 

The ruins of Kish are represented by the mound of 
El Oiehmar, about eight miles south-east of Hillah. It 
is a mound of great size, according to Kerr Porter, who 


122 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


visited the site ; it is about two hundred and eighty yards 
in circumference, and rises to a height of over one hundred 
and fifty feet above the plain. It is a mound which dis- 
plays every indication of vast antiquity, far exceeding that 
of Babylon, and its position, commanding the whole of the 
fertile plain of Middle Babylonia, makes it a site of great 
military importance. Although the mound has been 
visited by several travellers, none seem to have thought 
it worth while to make a drawing of it. But Kerr Porter 
and Bellino, who visited the ruins in the early part of 
last century, brought away some bricks, the inscriptions 
upon which enable us to identify it as the site of Kish.* 
One brick, with the partly obliterated name of a Babylonian 
king, gives us two important names, the temple of Mete- 
ursag (the adornments of the warrior), and the name of 
the god Zamama, the Babylonian god of war. Now, from 
the long introduction to the inscription of Khammurabi, 
we know that this was the chief temple of the city of 
Kish. Other small corn tablets in the British Museum, 
obtained by Dr. Budge, also state that this was the site of 
Kish. 

Now, Kish is the Biblical Cush.t The kings of this 
city were overlords of all the other cities of Babylonia, 
where fateszs, or viceroys, ruled under them. Among the 
cities most associated with Kish was that of Marad,f the 
site of which is marked by the mound of Tel-Edé, a little 
north-cast of Erech. This city is mentioned on the obelisk 
of Manistu-su, and the kings of Kish claimed the title 
of Nin-Marad, “lord of Marad.”§ In this title we have 
the origin of the name of Nimrod. This identification is 


* Ker Porter, “ Travels,” vol. ii. Pl. 77, No. 1. + Gen. x. 8. 


: | § = PEP EY FEY CED. 


Pa Clny 7) KINGDOMS 123 


confirmed by the curious fact revealed in the epic that 
Gilgames, the great ethnic hero of the Babylonians, was 
a native of Marad; and thus we have an additional proof 
tending to confirm our identification of him with Nimrod. 
The history of this period is chiefly composed of 
records of border wars and corn-raids. The most im- 
portant records come from the city of Sirpurra,* or Lagash, 
the ruins of which are marked by the mounds of Tello, 


TEL-EDE. 


and have been most systematically explored by the French 
explorer M. de Sarzec. 

The most interesting monument of this period is the 
famous stele of the Vultures, now in the Louvre, which 
records the victory of E-annadu, viceroy of Sirpurra, over 
the people of Giz-ukhu, a small city kingdom represented 
by the mounds of Iskha, a little north-east of Tello. The 
scenes depicted on the stele are on the obverse—a figure 
of E-annadu, with a huge club in his hand, while he grasps 
a large net, which is full of captives, whose heads, pro- 
truding through the meshes, he is engaged in crushing 


* ry ~Ge EW -EY CE. 


124 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


with his mace. On the reverse we have a series of battle- 
scenes represented—the king going forth in his chariot 
drawn by asses; the soldiers marching in solid phalanx 
after him, clad in armour, which seems to be composed of 
leather, with plates of metal sewn on. The next scene 
represents the battlefield after the fight, and the vultures 
pecking the heads of the enemy. It is from this scene, 
the first portion of the stele discovered, that the monument 
takes its name. 

Another group represents the burial of the dead. The 
bodies of the dead are piled head and toe one above the 
other, and men are carrying baskets of earth with which 
to cover them. If the dead were not buried, but left 
uncared for, they became terrible wandering evil spirits, 
haunting men. 

The scene is well explained by the following extract 
from a cone found at Sirpurra :— 


Cou. I.—To Mullil, king of the world, the father of the gods, upon 
his righteous command .. . 

Enlil, king of the lands, the father of the gods, upon his 
righteous command, Ninsugir and .. . 

marked off the boundary (of the land) by a well. 

Mesilim, king of Kish, upon the command of his god 
Kadi, on the boundary (?) of their territories, on that 
place a stele he erected. 

Ush, patesi of Gishukh, according to evil intentions 
acted ; 

that stele he took away; into the territory of Shirpurra 
he went. 

Ninsugir, the hero of Enlil, according to his (Ninsugit’s) 
righteous command, with Gishukh a battle he made 
(z.e. Mesilim). 

Upon the command of Enlil a scourge he brought over 
(them). 

The dead ones in a place of the field he buried. 

Eanatum, patesi of Shirpurra, the ancestor of Entemena, 
patesi of Shirpurra, and (with) Enakalli, patesi of 


THE CITY KINGDOMS 125 


Gishukh, marked off the boundaries of the land by 
a canal, 

Cou. II.—and a canal from the great river to the Guedin he made 
to go. 

A stele on this canal he inscribed. The stele of Mesilim 
to its place he restored. 

Into the territory of Gishukh he did not go ravaging. 

On the Imdubba of Ninsugir, and on the Nammurdaki- 
garra, a sanctuary of Enlil, a sanctuary of Ninkharsag, 
a sanctuary of Ninsugir, a sanctuary of Utu, he 
built. 

On corn for Nina, on corn for Ninsugir, 1 karu upon the 
men of Gishukh as tax he placed, and as tribute he 
put upon. 400 great karu (= 1,440,000 gur) he made 
to bring. 

He made order not to spoil that grain. Urlumma, patesi 
of Gishukh, of the boundary canal of Ninsugir, of 
the boundary canal of Nina, which (Eannatum) had 
made to go out, their steles into the fire he cast and 
took away. 

The sanctuaries dedicated to the gods, (which) on the 
Nammurdakigarra had been built, he destroyed, 

Cou..11I.—the lands he ravaged, the boundary canal of Ninsugir 
he crossed over, Eannatum, patesi of Shirpurra, in the 
Heldgener 

of the territory of Ninsugir upon the dogs he poured out 
his terror. Entemena, the beloved son of Eannatum, 
sent them under the yoke. Urlumma he made to 
return ; up to the very midst of Gishukh he crushed 
him. 

60 men of his army on the side of the Lummasirta he 
left ; of that soldiery its bones on the plains he left. 
His dead ones (ze. Urlumma’s) in five places he 
buried. 

At that time Ili, the patesiat over the Gishukhites, he made 
to accept. 

Cot. IV.—The boundary canal of Ninsugir, the boundary canal of 
Nina, the Imdubba (?) of Ninsugir, which goeth to (the 
side of) the Tigris.” 


The British Museum possesses some curious clay steles, 
inscribed with very archaic characters, recording the name 
and titles of this king E-anna-du. 


126 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


This inscription reads :-— 


Cou. I.—E-anna-du, viceroy of Sirpurra, endowed with power by 
Mullil, nourished with the holy milk of the goddess 
Ninkharsag, the chosen one of Ninsugir, 

Cou. II.—son of A-kurgal, viceroy of Sirpurra, he placed his yoke 
on the land of Elam, he placed his yoke on the land 
of Gisgal, and he placed his yoke on the land of 
Gizukh. 


The rest of the inscription refers to the making of a 
well, of which these large bricks appear to have formed the 


BRICK STELE OF E-ANNA-DU, 


cornice. In addition to the brief records which these 
inscriptions contain of local wars, they afford much in- 
formation as to the great public works which those rulers 


THE CITY KINGDOMS 127 


undertook. The construction of canals was vigorously 
pushed on, and we find that at this time a regular network 
was established throughout Southern Babylonia. These 
canals were most perfectly constructed, in many cases 
being lined with brickwork, and some of them continue in 
use until the present day. A traveller recently passing 
through one of the small navigable canals near Tello saw 
some bricks protruding from the bank, and one of them 
bore the name of Eannadu, so it must have been there for 
six thousand years. 

The next most important kingdom was that of Agade, 
or Akkad, which was the seat of a short-lived but very 
powerful dynasty of Semitic kings. The site of this city is 
still unfortunately not known, but it must have been in the 
neighbourhood of Sippara, in Northern Babylonia. 

The dynasty was founded about B.C. 3800, by a certain 
Sargon (the legitimate king). Of this ruler we possess a 
number of inscriptions on bricks, cones, and door sockets, 
which show that his rule extended over the whole of 
Babylon, including Sippara, Nippur, and Sirpurra. 

The British Museum possesses a fine mace head of this 
king, which is inscribed with a dedication to the sun-god of 
Sippara. I have already referred to several of the wars of 
this king, which show that his power extended over the 
greater part of Western Asia. One expedition mentioned 
is of much interest: “Over the sea of the setting sun 
(Mediterranean) he crossed for three years ; in the (land) of 
the setting sun (he rested), and his hand conquered every 
place; to form one kingdom he united. His image at the 
land of the setting sun he erected. Their spoil he caused 
to pass over into the country of the sea (Syria).” This 
seems certainly to point to an expedition to Cyprus. 
There is no reason why the Babylonian king should not 


128 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


have made his way to that island, which he would see from 
the slopes of the Lebanon. 

The military greatness of Sargon was surpassed by that 
of his son Naram-Sin, of whom we possess several most 
interesting records. The most important of these is a fine 
stele found by M. de Morgan at Susa, where it seems to 


MACE HEAD OF SARGON I. (B.C. 3800). 


have been carried by the Elamite king Sutruh Nakhunte II, 
B.C. 1300, who cut an inscription of his own upon it. 

Here we have a most astonishing monument for so 
remote an age (B.C. 3800), and which affords a very 
remarkable proof of the early development of art in 
Babylonia. 

The scene represents a campaign in a mountainous 
country. The Babylonian soldiers are climbing the hills 


THE CITY KINGDOMS 129 


through forests, while the enemy hide themselves among 
the trees. Behind the king, who has reached the summit, 
are the bodyguard, armed with long spears and carrying 


STELE OF NARAM-SIN, FOUND AT SUSA-. 


standards. The king, who stands on the summit of the 

mountain, is represented in all the glory of war. His 

helmet is decorated with horns; he wears a short tunic 

reaching to the knee, and decorated with fringe, and his 
K 


130 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


feet are shod with sandals; he appears to be armed with 
short javelins, one of which he has hurled at a fallen foe, 
upon whom he places his foot. Behind the fallen enemy is 
another, who raises his hands in supplication. 


ROYAL GROUP ON STELE. 


This group is particularly interesting, for it appears to 
have formed the model on which all subsequent rock 
sculptures in this region were copied. We find almost a 
similar group in the statue of Annubanini, the king of the 
Lububini, and the same is repeated in the great rock- 
sculpture of Darius at Behistun, and even continue in the 


THE CITY KINGDOMS 131 


sculptures of the Sassanian kings until after the Christian 
era. 

This monument appears originally to have been set up 
in Elam at a place called Sipir, mentioned in other inscrip- 
tions along with Yamut-balim and Ansan. During the 
reign of Sutruk-nakhunte (c7vc. B.C. 1300) it was thrown 
down and brought to Susa and placed in the royal palace. 
The inscription of Naram-Sin was mutilated, but sufficient 
remains to show that it records an expedition against the 
land of Lububini to the north-east of Susa. The Elamite 
king then cut upon the cone a long inscription of his own 
in the Anzanian tongue, in which he dedicates the monu- 
ment to his god Susinak. In the same way the column of 
Khammurabi was mutilated, by an erasure, to receive an 
inscription of this vandal king. 

A statue of Naram-Sin was also discovered at Mardin, 
in Northern Mesopotamia, indicating his rule over that 
region. The historical character of the reigns of Sargon 
and Naram-Sin has been questioned by some scholars, but 
there were found at Sirpurra some documents which afford 
a new light upon the subject. These were a series of 
contract tablets, dated in the reigns of those kings, and 
recording certain events. Such dates to commercial 
documents can hardly be fictitious. The dates are— 

I, Sargon made an expedition against Elam and 
Zakhara, opposite to Giz-ukh. 

2. Sargon made an expedition against the West land 
(Amurru). 

3. The year when he took captive Sarlak, king of 
Gutium. 

Other tablets record expeditions against Magan, Sinai, 
Kis, Nippur, and other towns, which prove beyond doubt 
the historical character of this king and his wars. 


132 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Both Sargon and Naram-Sin carried out extensive 
building operations at Nippur, and the great boundary wall 
of his temple, dedicated to Mullil, or Bel, was discovered 
by the American explorers. 

There is a great break now in the continuity of 
Babylonian history, extending over nearly a thousand 
years, and when next the thread is resumed, we find that 
the city of Ur, now represented by the ruins of Mughier, on 
the west bank of the Euphrates, is the capital. 


MUGHIER—UR. 


Ur was one of the most important cities in Chaldea, 
and as ancient as the dawn of the empire. It was the chief 
centre of moon-worship ; indeed, curiously enough, the only 
sacred city of the moon in Babylonia. The temple here 
was called the “house of the great light,” and was restored 
and decorated by most of the Babylonian rulers until the 
fall of the empire. It is much to be regretted that so little 
exploration has been made on this important site, which is 
of special interest to Biblical scholars as being the birth- 
place of Abram. Sir Henry Rawlinson and Mr. Loftus 
made some explorations here, and obtained many inscribed 


THE CITY KINGDOMS 133 


bricks of Ur-bau* and Dungi,f two rulers who flourished 
about B.C. 2800 ; also they found inscriptions of Nebuchad- 
nezzar and Nabonidus, recording their restoration of the 
temple. The lack of material from Ur itself is, however, 


STATUE OF UR-BAU. 


amply compensated for by the large number of inscriptions 
that have been discovered of the two chief rulers of this 
early dynasty of kings of Ur at Sirpurra. The kings of Ur 
were lords paramount over this sacred city of the god 


eS 1 ey ~W- 


134 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Nin-Sugir,* and both built and deposited votive offerings 
there, while Gudea, the viceroy probably of Ur-bau, carried 
out most extensive operations there. Among the objects 
found at Sirpurra was a fine diorite statue of Ur-bahu. 
Upon it is a long inscription recording the building of a 
portion of the temple of Nin-Sugir. 

The statue is a remarkably fine piece of work, the 
modelling of the torso and the muscles of the arms being 
very true to anatomy ; and when we remember the hard- 
ness of the stone, it is a-wonderful piece of work. We 
know little of the history of this king, but his building 
activity was very great. He it was who restored the 
temple of Mullil, or Bel, at Nippur, which had apparently 
fallen into ruin after the time of the dynasty of Sargon 
of Agade. He built the great stage-tower at Ziggurat, 
which rose above the sacred edifice; and his work is 
wonderfully preserved. 

Inscriptions of Ur-Bau and his reign. No. 1. Ona 
statue -— 

Come 
. To the god Ninsugir, 
. the powerful warrior 
. of the god Ellilla. 
Ur-Bau, 
. the patesi 
. of Shirpurra-ki, 
. the offspring begotten 
. by the god Nin-dgal, 
. chosen by the immutable will of the goddess Nind, 
. endowed with power by the god Ninsugir, 
- named with a favourable name by the goddess Bau, 
12. endowed with intelligence by the god En-ki, 
Cou. II.— 
I. covered with renown by the goddess Ninisi, 


2. the favourite servant of the god who is king of Gish- 
galla-ki, 


* me] BET EIS SEND 


_— 
me OW ON AM BW YN Hw 


4 
5 
6 
7 


THE CITY KINGDOMS 135 


. the favourite of the goddess Duzi-abzu. 


. Iam Ur-ba; 
. the god Ninsugir is my king. 
. The site of . . . he has excavated. 


. The earth thence extracted, like precious stones, he 
has measured (?) ; 


8. like a precious metal he has weighed (?) it. 
Cot. III.— 
1. According to the plan adopted he has marked out a 


om 


large space ; 
into the middle (of it) he has carried this earth, 
and he has made its mundus. 
. Above, a substructure, 6 cubits high, he has built. 
. Above this substructure 
. the temple E-Nind, which illumines the darkness (?), 
30 cubits in height, 
. he has built 
. for the goddess Nin-kharsag, the mother of the gods. 


Cou. 1V.— 


£ 


Oo WN & 


Om vt 


5 


. Her temple of Sugir-ki 
. he has constructed. 
. For the goddess Bau, 
. the good lady, 
the daughter of Anna, 
. her temple of Uru-azagga 
. he has constructed. 
. For the goddess Ninni, the lady august, the 
sovereign (?), 
. her temple of Gish-galla-ki 
. he has constructed. 
. For the god En-ki, the king of Eridu, 
. his temple of Sugir-ki 


CoL. V.— 


Lal 
be OO ON Aum £W WN 


a) 


. he has constructed. 
. For the god Nin-dara, the lord of destinies (?), 


. his temple he has constructed. 


. For the god Nin-dgal, 

. his god, 

. his temple 

. he has constructed. 

. For the goddess Nin-mar-ki, 

. the good lady, 

. the eldest daughter of the goddess Nina, 

. the £sh-gu-tur (2), the temple of her constant choice, 
. he has constructed. 


136 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


The brilliant explorations of M. de Sarzec at Tello 
brought to light what may be described as the oldest 
palace in the world. The building is of particular interest 
as showing how conservative the East is in regard to its 
domestic architecture. The palace of Gudea covers an 
area of about half an acre, and, like most Chaldean build- 


SES ee 5 ae 3 oh a - snsecssneaatinny a 


PALACE OF GUDEA AT TELLO. 


ings, is built with the angles to the cardinal points. The 
walls are of great thickness, twelve, and sometimes twenty 
feet, and are on the external face broken up by crenelated 
buttresses. The chief entrance is on the south-west side. 
Here the remains of a broad pavement were discovered, 
and immediately before the entrance was a large stone 
tomb for lustration, the sides of which were sculptured 
with figures of women holding water-jars. This was the 


THE CITY KINGDOMS 137 


absu, or sea, in which all cleansed themselves before enter- 
ing the royal abode. The entrance was flanked by guard 
chambers, and in most cases double, to prevent unauthorized 
entrance or exit. Passing through the gateway, we enter a 
broad quadrangle, surrounded by buildings on all sides. 
The royal quarters are on the right-hand side, consisting 
of three large rooms, in which, no doubt, the viceroy 


received his officers and 
subjects. These formed the 
selamlik, or state rooms. 
Connected with this portion 
was a small group of 


ee 

chambers, guarded by a (2 iimmilimmailemd fey gultesseots = 
b> Sea |S SS SSS | 

double gateway. Fromthe | 5h . Reo i 

smallness of the sai RAS MAC a Pen 

their arrangement, indicat- 

ing strict seclusion, these were, no doubt, the harem, or 


women’s quarter. 

The north-east angle of the building was occupied by 
an important group of buildings. These were grouped 
round a stage-tower, the sides of which were decorated 
with crenelated buttresses, and there were the remains of a 
staircase leading to the upper stories. This portion, no 
doubt, was the private temple attached to the palace, and 
dedicated to the god Nin-Sugir. Here a most interesting 
discovery was made. In front of the entrance to the 
temple the explorer found two bases of large brick columns 
of most ingenious construction. These pillars represented 
certainly the two tree-gods Tammuz and Giz-Zida, who 
guarded the entrance to heaven, and were probably found 
in most Babylonian temples. In these pillars we have 
probably the origin of the similar objects Yakin and Boaz, 
which stood in front of the temple of Solomon. 


138 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Returning tothe quadrangle, we find the two remaining 
sides surrounded by chambers, which, from the objects 
found in their pottery, arms, tools, etc., were occupied by 
soldiers and servants. The most interesting feature of 
this edifice is the way in which it presents the same 
arrangement as the modern house of an Eastern official of 
high rank—the selamlik, the harem, the private mosque, 
and the servants’ quarters and stores. The most interesting 
discovery in the palace was that of several statues of the 
viceroy Gudea, all of which are covered with inscriptions. 
One of the best of these represents the king seated, with 


PLANS ON THE KNEES OF THE SITTING STATUE OF GUDEA. 


a tablet or drawing-board on his knee, on which is beauti- 
fully drawn the plan of an edifice ; while by the side of the 
plan is the burr or graver with which it is drawn, and the 
scale to which the plan was drawn also. 

This plan, as will be seen, represents, apparently, a 
small temple or fortified building. Beside the tablet is the 
burr or graver with which the plan was drawn, and on the 
edge of it a bevelled and graduated scale. This scale is 
most important for my argument. It has been carefully 
measured by the most accurate of mathematicians, Pro- 
fessor Flinders Petrie, and it works out to a cubit of 20°63, 
the Egyptian cubit, and not the Babylonian cubit of 21°, 
and the statue itself is found to be worked to this scale 
—a manifest proof of the influence of Egyptian teachers. 


THE CITY KINGDOMS 139 


The placing of the plan on the knees of the statue is 
again remarkable, and seems to me to show undoubted 
Egyptian influence. The name of Gudea means, in Semitic 
Assyrio-Babylonian, the prophet, or “the deliverer of 
judgment.” The god Nabu, or Nebo, from whom the king 
derives his name, corresponded to the Egyptian Tehuti, or 
Thoth, “the measurer,” the scribe of the gods. Although 
Thoth was the measurer or weigher, he was not the god of 
mathematics and science; these duties fell to the god 
I-em-hotep, or Imonthis, the son of Ptah, who was identified 
by the Greeks with Aésculapius, who is always represented 
as seated with a papyrus spread out on his knees, in 
exactly the attitude given to Gudea in this statue. And 
it is as the architect, the mathematician, that he appears in 
this group. The attitude, the scale, the source of material, 
seem to me undoubtedly the result of a close contact with 
the artistic schools of Egypt.* 

The statue is covered with a long inscription, which 
records the erection of the temples in Sirpurra. Its chief 
interest centres in the valuable details it gives of the 
various countries which Gudea laid under contribution for 
the materials. From Kimash, Central Arabia, came gold, 
copper, and hard stone; as also from Magan or Sinai. The 
latter also produced woods of various kinds. From Gubin, 
perhaps Koptos, came hard woods ; perhaps from the Upper 
Nile and from Amanus cedar ; while limestone came from 
Barsip, the Tul Barsip of the Assyrians, the modern Kalat 
Nijdim, near Carchemish, on the Euphrates. 

The fleets that Gudea despatched certainly appear to 
have sailed round Arabia to the Gulf of Akabah, and so 
established at that time (B.C. 2800) a Red Sea trade. 

Among the objects obtained were several beautiful 


* See illustration, p. 41. 


140 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


shells engraved with designs. This trade in engraved 
shells was very extensive at this time, for there are several 
of this date bearing the cartouches of the Egyptian kings 
in the British and other museums. 

We know little of the history after this period until we 
come to the period of the great Elamite invasion, which 
overran the country, and paved the way for the use of the 
first Babylonian dynasty and the consolidation of the 
Babylonian empire. 


CHAPTER V 
THE GARDEN OF THE ORIENT 


“And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the Garden 
of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”—GEN. ii. 15. 


ABYLONIA was certainly the birthplace of agri- 
B culture. Although, as the discoveries at Susa show, 
there were settlements upon that site at a period 
prior to the earliest settlements in Babylonia, they do not 
appear to have been of a very permanent character. The 
débris of the settlements preceding the first town show 
that the buildings were of wood, and only occupied during 
harvest. The large number of sickle-teeth found in heaps 
seem to show that this early agricultural implement had 
been stored away for future use, and on the destruction of 
the settlement the wooden frames had decayed, and left 
the teeth in heaps. 

In Babylonia, the earliest records, such as the obelisk 
of ManiStu-su, or the cone of Entemena, both dating 
from about B.C. 4500, show that considerable progress 
has been made—indeed such progress that affords 
evidence that the farming industry had been carried 
on for centuries. The discoveries in Elam and Chaldea, 
however, have a special interest in the light which 
they throw upon some of the earliest stages of agri- 
culture. The primitive settlers, who descended from the 
highlands into the plains bordering on the east bank of the 

141 


142 THE FIRST OF EMPIR@S 


Tigris, no doubt found wheat growing wild, and were 
attracted to its edible character from the fact that birds 
ate freely of it. At first man was content to pluck the 
ears of wheat and rub them between his hands, but when 
a large quantity had thus to be treated the process became 
both tedious and unsatisfactory. Cutting with a flint tool 
produced better results, but in course of time it occurred 
to some prehistoric genius to vastly aid the process. The 
cutting of grass and the reaping of corn require a semi- 
circular instrument cutting towards the person holding the 
top of the corn, as is seen in the Egyptian sculptures. The 
early forms of the sickle found in Egypt and Chaldea show 
most unmistakably the origin of this useful implement. 
The first sickle was the lower jaw of the sheep or ox, 
most probably the former, on account of the lightness, and 
with this the process was much improved. It was, how- 
ever, too expensive a process to kill a sheep for each pair 
of reapers, so in due course a wooden model of the lower 
jaw was made, into which the flint teeth were inserted 
exactly in the same manner as those in the natural jaw. 

It is to be noticed, on comparing the two in this plate, 
how closely the natural model has been followed, even to 
the larger flints corresponding to the back teeth, and the 
cutting power being from the larger end. The modelling 
of the haft follows most closely the form of the termina- 
tion of the jaw-bone. Most of the early agricultural imple- 
ments were very primitive in their origin. The plough is 
called “the scratching wood,” while the ideogram for “to 
dig” is but a development of the hoe, and represents a 
stone celt tied on to a stick. 

When we come to the earliest agricultural records 
of Babylonia we find a considerable advance. The 
earliest inscription relating to farming is the obelisk of 


Pe TGA DEN OH EE ORIENT 143 


King Manistu-su of Kish. This interesting monument, 
which has been often referred to, is a kind of land- 
mark of the royal estates, on which the details of area 
and price are inscribed. I have dealt with some of the 


Lee Tm Th 
ZY ‘A 4 fe | 2 
— tee | LY 25 
ee) , )Y 
D 4, ZY 
SNe 1), YK 
Ss \ Zou) UG 
Weal = 
—— SON — = 
{I1) WOODEN SICKLE (EGYPT). (2) SHEEP’S JAW-BONE. 


most important features of this inscription already, but 
others, which deal with the management of estates, may 
now be considered. The first point to be noticed is the 
careful measurement of the land, and the calculation of 
the area, and the value by the corn tariff. The land is 


144 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


calculated by the gaz, a word which is explained by 
padanu, the Arabic feddan, an acre and a ninth; while 
corn is measured by the gur, the Hebrew Zor, or eight 
bushels. Now, the degree of exactness exhibited in these 
calculations shows that the system must have been long 
in use. Not only was the estate carefully measured, but 
the boundaries were marked and recorded. Thus for one 
estate we read (col. 6, lines 5-15)— 

“Bounded on the north by the sons of Kutus, on the 
south by the hill of Gunizi, on the east by (the land of) 
Mesalim, son of the King, and on the west by the town 
of Bar-ki (Barsip?), in the district of Baraz-edin, of the 
town of Kish.” 

Another estimate is given (col. 13, lines 15-25)— 

“Bounded on the north by the canal Zi-kalama (“life of 
the world”), on the south by Bit Gisimanu, on the east by 
the canal Amastiak, on the west by the land of Amal- 
isdugal.” 

In the face of such accuracy, it is not surprising to find 
that the land surveyor was an important official. And the 
name he bore was Gan-gid-da (mY *~- =]!), “the field 
measurer,” or rather, literally, the ‘‘man who measures 
with a cord.” * The interesting evidence of this inscrip- 
tion is confirmed by the discovery of a most interesting 
series of plans of estates, certainly the oldest examples in 
the world, as they date from the reign of Sargon (B.C. 3800). 
These tablets, unfortunately much broken, were discovered 
by M. de Sarzec at Tello,and have been recently published 
by M. Thureau Dangin. 

The first of these (a) represents a small estate, which is 
called the field of Zida, the chief (wz ga/), through which 
run two canals—one the central, called the canal //-tabsz ; 


* Compare the Hebrew and Arabic 727, a measuring-line. 


(2) 


Ki yin 


\ 
vw \ 


~S 
\at \| 


ri 


SURVEYS OF ESTATES, B.C. 3800. 


146 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


the other, the name is lost. The land adjoins on the left 
the field of Ezir. On the obverse is the endorsement 
presented by Ili-gamil the scribe. The next fragment is 
interesting for the careful way (4) in which the scribe has 
denoted the river, and at the bottom are the words “ the 
corn-field.”. In another fragment (¢) we appear to have a 
pond denoted, which measured “seven and a third sar.” 
Not only were these Babylonian surveyors able to draw 
accurate plans of estates, but even of houses as well (d). 
There are several very elaborate plans of a later date, 
especially one of several fields of the age of Gudea, now in 
the Imperial Ottoman Museum at Constantinople. The 
Greco-Chaldean historian tells us that the fish-god Oannes 
taught men the “rules for the boundaries of land and the 
mode of building cities and temples,” and of the antiquity 
of this scientific knowledge in Babylonia the monuments 
afford ample proof. 

Another valuable piece of evidence as to the antiquity 
of agriculture in Babylonia is furnished by the names 
of the months, which we find in the oldest calendar— 
that in use for legal and commercial documents in the 
time of Sargon I. (B.c. 3800) ; and in a slightly modified 
form a thousand years later, in the reign of Gudea (B.C. 
2800). 

The names are proof that we have to deal with a famous 
almanac. 

1. The month when the corn raises its head (Spring 
Equinox). 

2. The month when the fields are bright. 

3. The month when the cattle are in the fields 

4. The month of the god Nesu. 

5. The month of sowing. 

6. The month when they eat flour (?) 


Pip sGAKCDEN OF DHE ORIENT 147 


. The month of Tammuz (the youthful sun-god). 
The month of the Festival of Dungi. 
g. The month of the goddess Bau (goddess of fertility). 

10. Obscure. 

11. Obscure. 

12. Month of corn-cutting. 

This agricultural character continued to the last, but it 
became obscured by religious influence; but such names 
as “the months of sowing, corn-cutting, opening of dams, 
copious fertility, or the fulness of the year,” still maintain 
the old character. To cultivate the land was an imperative 
duty, not only to man himself, or to his master, but to the 
State and religion; for it was the cultivation of the land 
that produced the revenue of the State, and the wealth of 
the temples, and provided the offerings of the temples. 
There therefore grew up in Babylonia at a very early 
period—certainly prior to B.C. 3800—a most elaborate and 
perfect fiscal or revenue control, by which the wealth of 
the country could be estimated to the most minute extent. 
No such system existed in any ancient country ; perhaps it 
was most nearly approached by the administration of 
Egypt in the time of the XVIII" dynasty, under the priests 
of Amen. The revenue returns were supplied by the 


gos 


temples, for the temple was the treasury and revenue 
office of the district; and until the consolidation of the 
empire, and the centralization of the administration in 
Babylon about B.C. 2300, each district had its own 
revenue returns. 

For the purposes of ascertaining the wealth of the 
country an accurate survey and census of the country was 
necessary, and, astonishing as it may seem, this was 
perfected at a very early period in Babylonia, and by 
B.C. 2500 we find it in a most finished condition. 


148 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Our knowledge of this ancient Revenue Board is derived 
from a wonderful series of some thirty thousand tablets 
found at Tello or Sirpurra, and dated in the reigns of the 
kings of the second dynasty of Ur, who reigned from 
B.C. 2500-2300. The tablets were found in two long 
galleries, and had been arranged on shelves, which had 
decayed, so the tablets had fallen, but remained heaped up 
in layers five or six deep. Of the great collection, number- 
ing many thousands, the British Museum has secured the 
major portion, which are now exhibited in the new Baby- 
lonian room. There are also collections in the Louvre, the 
Imperial Ottoman Museum at Constantinople, and in the 
Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. - This latter 
museum possesses also a collection of similar tablets for 
Nippur. The tablets refer to the administration of temple 
property, to agriculture, stock raising (especially the returns 
of the temple herds), the produce of farms and gardens in 
the district. 

First in order come a series of bun-shaped tablets, many 
of which, having been stored in jars, are in most astonishing 
preservation, looking as fresh as if they had only just come 
from the kiln. These tablets are the returns of a cadastral 
survey of the district. The one here given is the survey of 
an estate of seven fields. Each field has been carefully 
measured and the area calculated, the nature of the crop 
and the estimated value given. Where land is fallow, or of 
an inferior quality, its condition is stated. On the reverse 
is a calculation of the amount at which the estate is 
assessed, and the rent which is paid for it. The inscriptions 
are of too technical a character to be of interest to the 
general reader, but it is important to state that where the 
calculations have been worked out, as some have by Dr. 
Oppert and M. Dangin, their accuracy is most astonishing. 


CADASTRAL SURVEY OF AN ESTATE, 


He 


Cr 
KX 


mace 


ia 
i a! 
’ 7 V 


ST ae en a 


. 
J 
~ 1 
‘ 
f 
A ‘ 
- « nied, 


CHE GARDEN OF THE ORIENT I51 


These documents record a survey which appears to have 
been made at intervals of about six or seven years. From 
these were compiled the larger tablets, which contain the 
revenue returns of the different districts. Some of these 
are wonderful specimens of clay documents, the finest 
measuring 18 inches by 103, and containing sixteen columns 
of writing. 

The translation of the first column will be sufficient to 
show the method of entering these accounts. 


Col. 1. 


(600 x 2) + (60 x 3) + 30 = 1410 gur of corn, royal standard. 
The field of Aballa. 


(600 x 3) + (60 x 2) + 422 = 19622 gur. Totals. 
On the bank of the old canal. 1410 
(60 x 8) + 50 + 2 = 5302 gur. 1962? 
The field of Dungi-zi-kalama. 5302 
(60 x 9) + 40 = 580 gur. 580 
The plantation (?) of Bazi-gilla. 3161 
(60 x 5) + 16 + 1 = 316! gur. —- 
The field of Dumzi. 4799 


Making in all 3600 + (600 x 2) = 4800 — 1 = 4799 gur. 


This is astonishing mathematics for nearly five thousand 
years ago. The corn in the second column appears to be 
measured in boats, and we are told that is the corn 
which Ur Nina collected for the house of Nin Sugir, the 
document being dated in the year of “Bur Sin the king”’ 
(B.C. 2500). 

As to the way in which the cattle census was taken, the 
following tablet affords a good example. It is the inventory 
of stock in the charge of a certain Amil-Bit-Ana (man of 
the house of Heaven). 


152 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


184356. 
“3 70 i me et 
—wesies ee a 
poems Ft oer ia 


Tr EH Sr Bored Pelee 


7” fete «< of 
. Re = bE ar €f KR FEST 


i Be <1 pe ere 
#-SKR = 


INVENTORY OF CATTLE. 


Translation. 


(50-1) 49 Ewes. 
3 Great Sheep. 
25 Rams. 
11 Weaned lambs. 
20 not weaned do. 
4 Goats. 
(112) Presented. 
Deductions. 
3 Great Sheep, 1 Ewe, 1 Ram. 
2 Great Sheep for scribe 
as wages. 
Less 5 Rams (killed for food possibly). 
Account (30 — 1) = 29 for wages 
Expended 5. 
The account of Amil-E-Anna (man of the house of 
Heaven), in the city of Nina (a quarter of Sirpurra). 
The year of Bur Sin the king. 


In the same way careful inventories of asses and oxen 
were drawn up, and, in fact, every animal in the country 
must have been registered in the tax-collector’s books, and 


hE GaxrDEN OF THE ORIENT 153 


the owner had to account for their not being presented for 
the census. Some points of interest are brought out by 
these tablets. First we notice that wages of the shepherds 
were paid in kind,a custom which explains the payment of 
Jacob in the same manner by Laban (Gen. xxxi.); but in 
the earlier time of Khammurabi shepherds appear to have 
received a wage calculated on a corn tariff of 8 gur 
(64 bushels) per annum. 


BABYLONIAN CATTLE. 


From these revenue chambers come other tablets, show- 
ing that butter, honey, milk, wool, and even vegetables, 
were carefully * inventoried by the scribes, wool being 
priced by the talent. One very important point to be 
noticed is that, although we have several thousands of these 
tablets, we have no mention either of the horse or the 
camel in any of them. The horse was essentially the 
animal of war, and is called frequently by the epithet 
“the horse glorious in war,” and neither in Babylonian nor 
Assytian records have we a representation of a horse used 
for labour. The ox and the ass were the beasts of burden 


* In the possession of Miss E. Paget, Manchester, is a tablet, 
giving receipt for eggs, pigeons, flowers, and honey sent to the 
temple. 


154 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


and draught. The camel does not appear until the twelfth 
century, yet we know how largely the camel figures in the 
history of the Hebrew patriarchs.* 

Farming in Babylonia was no amateur occupation, but 
carried out by a prescribed code of rules of great antiquity. # 
Fragments of this Farmers’ Year-book have been preserved 
to us, and are now in the British Museum.f I have 
selected some of them; the broken state of the tablets 
and the obscurity of some of the Sumerian terms render 
a complete translation impossible. 


“Tn the sixth month (Ellul) of the year, the farmer 
establishes his tenancy. 
He agrees upon his bond. 
He completes his bond. 
When the time of working comes, he ploughs, 
rakes, and divides it. 
For every sixty measures of grain the farmer 
takes eight.” 


Farming was usually an affair of partnership between 
the ground landlord (de/ ekf) and the farmer, and the 
proportions were usually half, third, or quarter shares. 
This subdivision of the land is regulated by the code of 
Khammurabi (clause 46), where we read, “If he has not 
recovered the produce of his field, either for one-half or 
one-third, the corn that is in the field the farmer and 
the landlord shall share according to the terms of their 
bond.” The rules as to a half-share partnership are 
preserved in the year-book. 

“If a farmer takes for a half-partnership with the 


* The camel probably entered the Euphrates valley from the north- 
east, originally from the slopes of Central Asia, and possibly was 
known in Aram-Naharaim, in the neighbourhood of Kharan, before it 
was introduced into Babylonia. 

{ Translated by G. Bertin in “ Records of the Past,” New Series, 
vol. ill. pp. 79, e¢ seg. 


THE GARDEN OF THE ORIENT sss 


landlord, everything is equal—man as man, house as 
house, seed as seed.” 

“When harvest-time comes, the master sends from his 
place an ox for threshing the corn, and the corn of the 
field he takes.” 

We fortunately possess several of these deeds of 
partnership, and they confirm these rules; thus— 

“Four feddan a field within the field of the sun-god, 
the field Arad-ulmas-sittum, son of Taribum, from Arad- 
ulmas-sittum, the master of the field, Arad-ulmas and 
Anul-adad, sons of Usatim, this field for cultivation on 
rent for one year have hired ; one with the other an agree- 
ment has established. In the day of harvest they shall 
reap as right and left (equally) the corn, the rent of the 
field they shall pay, the agreement they shall close, the 
property jointly they shall possess. 

“(Date) 22nd day, month Sukul (June and July), year 

of Ammiditana the king.” 

Another example— 

“13 feddan a fallow field, the field of Ili-baim (?), the 
shepherd, son of Ilu-baili (?), the land of Ilu-baim, the 
shepherd, the landlord, Ili-ikisam ... for cultivation on 
rental for one year has hired. On the day of harvest all 
that there is they shall harvest, for each ten feddan six 
sur (48 bushels) of corn to the store of the sun-god, as 
rent, he pays; on account of the rent of his field two 
shekels of silver is received. 

“Dated month Tisri (?), 20th day of the year of Ammi- 

zadugga the king.” 

The freedom granted to women in Babylonia allowed 
them to hold and manage their own estates, and this was 
especially the case with priestesses of the temples, who 
traded extensively. 


156 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


The opening is obscure. 

“From Akhatani, priestess of Samaég, daughter of 
Samas-khazir Agir-Adad, son of Libit-Nerra, for one 
year has hired ; the rent for each year three and a half 
shekels of silver he shall pay . .. on the 4th day of the 
month Isin Adad * he enters into possession, on the month 
Simitun * he quits it.” 

The “ day of harvest” was the settling day of the year ; 
rent, taxes, everything of the nature of credit, had to be 
paid at the time of harvest, which usually commenced 
about April or May in Babylonia. Interesting proof of this 
is afforded by the loan tablets of the age of Khammurabi 
in the British Museum. ‘ 

“51 shekels of silver until the gathering of harvest, 
a loan according to his tablet . . . which Arad-Sin from 
Apil-ili-su, son of Khainiddina, and Akhazunu his wife, 
received. In the day of harvest, in the month Sadutuini, 
a receipt he takes, the corn they pay.” 

Sometimes the loan was made from the temple or 
communal store, which advanced seed-corn to the farmer ; 
a fine example is in the Berlin Museum. 

“300 ka of seed from the storehouse of the sun-god 
until the harvest, which from IItani, the priestess of the 
sun-god, the daughter of the king (marat sarrt) Seritum, 
son of Ibni-Martu, has received. In the time of harvest, 
in the month of corn-cutting (Adar?), he shall bring it ; 
if he brings it not, it will be (to him) as the yoke of the 
king.” 

The yoke of the king was the Babylonian form of 
penal servitude. 

It will be at once apparent how completely these deeds 


* These month-names belong to an old calendar, and cannot be 
identified with certainty. 


THE GARDEN OF THE ORIENT 157 


confirm the clauses in the code of Khammurabi relating 
to farming. The Babylonian system of farming appears 
to have been of three kinds: (1) the partnership ; (2) land 
hired and rent paid in kind; (3) the land entrusted to 
farmers to cultivate, the landlord finding seed, implements, 
etc., and paying the farmer a wage and an allowance 
from the produce. Labour seems to have been plentiful, 
being partly found by slaves and serfs dwelling on the 
land, and by labourers. As we know from the code 
(sec. 273), the hired labourer was paid “from the beginning 
of the year to the fifth month six sé of silver per day, from 
the sixth month to the end of the year five se.” The se 
was 34, part of a shekel; but in addition to this pay the 
landlord had to find the workman in food, and apparently 
also some articles of clothes, such as a loin-cloth. The 
long inscription of ManiStu-su, although in parts very 
obscure, affords very interesting light. When the king 
purchased the estates near Kis, he made a kind of 
covenant with tenants and the workmen on the estate. 
We read (col. 19, 15-30), “In all, thirty-two slaves of 
Marad, dwellers on the land, and six hundred slaves in 
Gazani, with food he shall nourish.” In addition to this, 
the tenants appear to have each had “a robe of favour” 
(KU SU SE-GA = gubat magari) given them. Probably, 
as at the present day, any transaction of importance in 
the East is accompanied by a present of clothes, especially 
when one of the parties is of high rank. The workmen 
appear to have received a “loin-cloth,” called KU SU UL 
A-PAL (“the robe of the irrigator”). If this was the 
system in B.C. 4500, it probably continued until later times, 
We must remember that living in Babylonia was cheap, 
and, as this was so, the actual payments for labour, though 
they seem to us low, were really ample. 


158 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


We possess some of the original contracts for labour 
which give the rate— 

“Adad Sarru, the son of Ibni Sama, has from Babul 
Samas his brother, Adad-iduma, the son of Sin-rimeni, 
hired for one year. For his hire six shekels of silver he 
shall receive, and at the commencement one shekel of 
silver.” 

“ Mar-Sippar has from Manawartum his mother, Marduk- 
nazir, the son of Allabanu, for one year hired. All the 
loan for the year is two and a half shekels for the year, 
half a shekel 18 se he receives.” 

Here the payment is made to the owner of the hired 
man, but a small payment was also given to himself. 
In some cases the hiring was from the man _ him- 
self ; as— 

“Naram-ibi-Su by name has from himself Idin-ittu for 
six months hired. All the hire for six months is two 
shekels of silver (which) he receives.” 

The man who hired a servant was responsible for his 
keep to his master, and for any loss or injury to him, for 
in a tablet of domestic laws we read — 

“If a man a workman has hired and he has died, 
or has been stolen, or has fled, or has become sick, 
his hand for each day shall measure one half a measure 
of corn.” 

The land laws which we find in the code of Kham- 
murabi (B.C. 2258) are evidently those which have been 
in use for a long time, and present a close resemblance to 
those of Mohammedan India. Thus in Babylonia fallow 
land paid nothing for three years, and in the fourth it paid 
at the rate of one gwr (8 bushels) per feddan. In India 
nothing was paid in the first year, a little in the second 
and third, and in the fourth year the fixed rent commenced 


THE GARDEN OF THE ORIENT 159 


(XLIV.). As in Babylonian, so in Mohammedan law, 
where there is a mortgage on land or crops (XLVIII.) the 
landlord has primary claim. One of the most interesting 
features of this code also is the fact that a stranger could 
hold land (XL.). This would seem to be the clause which 
enabled Abram to acquire and hold the field in which the 
cave of Machpelah was situated (Gen. xxiii.). Indeed, the 
whole of this transaction of the purchase from Ephron 
the Hittite has a remarkable Babylonian stamp. The 
patriarch declares himself “a stranger and a sojourner in 
the land” (ver. 4). Notice the use, too, of the common 
Babylonian term “the full price,’ found in all contracts, 
and the transaction being carried out “in the gate of the 
city” (ver. 11), while the mention of the delimitations of 
the property resembles those occurring in the contracts of 
the age of Khammurabi. 

The land laws of Babylonia became those of Western 
Asia generally, as the commercial laws had also. The 
Hebrews probably found the same laws in force in Canaan 
when they occupied the land, and they form the basis 
of the rules of land tenure and agriculture in force among 
the fellahin of Palestine at the present time. In the main, 
land was held in Babylonia to be crown property, and, as 
the numerous land grants show, the king had very arbitrary 
powers in giving estates to those whom he wished to 
reward, or in depriving those who offended him. There 
was, however, another system by which the land was the 
property of the local god,and bound to support his house 
and household; hence the elaborate system of revenue 
returns attached to the temples, such as those of Bel at 
Nippur, and Nin-Sugir at Sirpurra or Lagash. Vast 
estates were attached to the temples as glebe, or wdékz/, 
and the management of them was productive of great 


160 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


wealth to these sacred edifices. The stores of corn, dates, 
wool, and other commodities in the sw¢tum, or storehouse, 
of the temple, enabled the priests and priestesses to do an 
extensive trade, and to enrich themselves as well as the 
temple. 

One of the most remarkable features of Babylonian 
life was the land right granted to women, and especially 
to priestesses, a body most rigidly secluded under other 
systems. We find them owning houses and land, and 
trading freely in them. They were extensive money- 
lenders. We also find them as litigants in the law courts, 
and adopting children. 

The fiscal system of Babylonia embodied two taxes, 
known to us from Hebrew legislation as the dues of “ first- 
fruits and tithes;” but we have no trace of the year of 
Jubilee, which seems to follow upon the Sabbatical system 
of the priestly code. 

In conclusion, we may say that the land and agricul- 
tural system of Babylonia was organized at a very early 
period, certainly prior to B.C. 3800, and underwent but 
little modification in later times. It, moreover, seems to 
have been introduced into Syria and Palestine at an early 
period, when, after the conquest of Canaan, the Hebrews 
adopted it. The system approaches most closely to that 
of the Mohammedan rulers of India, and it may be possible 
that it was from the remains of the system which survived 
until after the Christian era in Babylonia that the recep- 
tive Mohammedans borrowed. So perfect a system could 
not have passed unnoticed. The hordes of Islam, when 
they conquered Iraq Arabi, still a land of vast fertility, 
in A.D. 642 had no land law of their own. To adopt the 
existing laws would be most natural. From Bagdad the 
law spread to India. The old law of Mesopotamia of 


THE GARDEN OF -THE ORIENT 161 


the days of Khammurabi is still the basis of the law of 
the Arabs of the valley, as it is also of the fellahin 
of Palestine and Syria, * and, indeed, all Moslem land. 


* On this, see a valuable paper by the Rev. J. Neil, M.A., on 
“Land Tenure in Palestine in Ancient Times,” in the 7vansactions of 
the Victoria Institute, vol. xxiv. 


I, 2. CLAY MODELS OF AXE AND SICKLE FROM ERIDU. 
3- PICTORIAL BABYLONIAN SIGN ‘‘ TO DIG.” 
4. EGYPTIAN MATTOCK. 5. CORN RUBBER (SYRIA). 


CHAPTER VI 


“KHAMMURABI THE GREAwS 


HE rescue of the name and fame of Khammurabi, 
| the great ruler and lawgiver of Chaldea, from 
the oblivion of centuries, is, indeed, one of the 
greatest triumphs of archzological research. No cycle of 
myths had grown around his name preserving to sub- 
sequent generations his traditional greatness as the “ father 
of law,” as the name of Minos had been preserved in 
Greek tradition. A few years ago some few contracts 
dated in his reign, and some interesting votive inscriptions, 
were all that remained to record his existence. Now the 
historian of his epoch-making reign is as well equipped 
as the modern biographer of a monarch of the Middle 
Ages. Historical epitomes of his reign, thousands of 
dated legal and commercial documents, a concise canon 
of the chief events of his time, and lastly his own private 
letters, are now accessible to us. 

The Babylonians, great literati as they were, had not 
the faculty for writing long historical inscriptions. In 
this respect they differed from the Assyrians, whose 
chronicles are now well known to us, but which often, 
when tested by contemporary records, are not found to 
be as accurate as we should expect. To the historian 
of the ancient East, the brief but accurate canon in- 


scriptions, or the summaries, such as preface the code 
162 


“KHAMMURABI THE GREAT” 163 


inscription, are far more important and dependable than 
the grandiose records of the Assyrians. 

The summary of the events in the early part of the 
reign of Khammurabi, and of those which immediately 
preceded it, which is found in the opening lines of the 
code text, is of great value. 


PORTRAIT, KHAMMURABI (BRITISH MUSEUM), 


TRANSLATION, 


I. When the supreme god, the king of the Anunaki 
Bel, the lord of heaven and earth, who decreed the 
fates of men, assigned to Merodach, the first-born son 
of Ea, the divine lord of righteousness, the host of man- 
kind entrusted to him, and exalted him among the Igigi. 


104 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


II. They called Babylon by its illustrious name, and 
made it great among the four quarters of the earth, and 
founded within it an everlasting dynasty, which, like unto 
heaven and earth, its throne is founded. 

III. Then in that day, I (myself), Khammurabi, the noble 
prince who feared my God, justice in the land for witness, 
plaintiff, and defendant, to destroy the tyrant, and not 
to oppress the weak, like the sun-god to blackheads, I 
promulgated, enlightening the land, the god, and Bel 
to the seed of men, for well being proclaimed my name. 


RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF BEL. 


IV. Khammurabi, the prince called by Bel, am I, the 
one who perfects abundance and plenty, enriching with 
all things Nippur and Dur-an-(ki), the glorious provider 
of E. Kur (temple of Bel).* 

V. The hero king who restored to Eridu its shrine, 
who purified the channel of E. Apsu.t 

VI. Who made battle on the four quarters of the 
world, exalting the renown of Babylon, and making glad 
the heart of Merodach its lord, who each day presents 
(himself) in E. Saggil.t 


* Mountain House. t House of the Deep. 
{t House of the Lofty Head. 


“KHAMMURABL THE GREAT” 105 


VII. The royal scion whom Sin has created, who 
enriched Ur, the humble, the reverent, who pours out 
wealth to E. Ser-gal.* 

VIII. The reverent king, attentive to Samas, the 
mighty one who laid (the foundation) of Sippara, who 
clothed with verdure the grave of the goddess Ai (the 
bride), who decorated E. Babbar, which is the abode of 
heaven. 

1X. The avenging warrior of Larsa, who restored E. 
Babbar ft for Samas, his helper. 

X. The life-giving lord of Erech, who established 
waters of fertility for its inhabitants, who exalted the 
summit of E. Anna,t making perfect the beauty of Anu 
and Nana. 

XI. The divine protector of the land, who gathered 
together the scattered people of Isin, who heaped up 
abundance in E. Gal Makh.§ 

XII. The dragon of the capital, own brother of 
Zamana, who firmly established the dwellings of Kish, 
who wrapped in splendour E. Me-te-ursag,|| and redoubled 
the great treasures of Nini (Istar). 

XIII The guardian of Kharsag Kalama, the grave 
of the enemy, whose help brought about victory. 

XIV. Who increased the wealth of Kutha and for 
E. Sillam,** the mighty bull who gored the foe. 

XV. The beloved of Tutu, who made glad Borsippa 
the glorious (city), the unwearying one toward Ezida.}{ 
The divine king of the capital. 


* House of the Great Light. t+ House of Light. 

+ House of Heaven. § The Noble Palace. 
|| House of the Warriors Adornments. 

{ House of the Mountain of the World. 

** House of the Shade. tt The Established House. 


166 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


XVI. The wise and intelligent one, who made wide 
the pasture-lands of Dilbat, who heaped up the granaries 
of Urus. 

XVII. The strong, the lord of insignia, sceptre, and 
crown, with which he clothes himself, the chosen one 
of Mama, who established the ceremonies of Kesh, who 
made rich the holy feasts of Nin-Tu. 

XVIII. The prudent, the beneficent, who provides 
pasture and watering-places for Sirpurra and Sugir, who 
provided great free-will offerings for the temple of Nin- 
gorsu. He who captures the enemy. 

XIX. He who fulfils the oracles of Khallabi, who 
made glad the heart of Anunit. The noble prince, the 
lofty of whose hand (prayer) is accepted by Adad, who 
pacified the heart of Adad, the warrior of Karkar. 

XX. Who caused to be replaced the adornments of 
E. Ud-gal-gal.* The king who gave life to the city of 
Adab. 

XXI. The director of E. Makh,t the hero of the 
capital, the warrior without rival, who dowered with life 
the city of Maskan-sabri, who gave abundance to E. 
Sit-lam. 

XXII. The wise, the capturer, who all the robbers 
has taken, and delivered the inhabitants of Malka from 
destruction, and made firm their home among plenty. 

XXIII. Who for Ea and Damkina, who magnified 
his rule, for all time, appointed pure sacrifices, who 
subjected the villages on the Euphrates to Dagan his 
creator, and who benefited the inhabitants of Mera and 
Tutul. 

The glorious prince who makes bright the face of 
Nini (Istar), who establishes holy meals for Nin-Asu, 


* House of Bright day. t The Noble House. 


“KHAMMURABI THE GREAT” 167 


who cared for the inhabitants in their affliction, and 
appointed them a portion within Babylon in peace. 

XXIV. The shepherd of mankind, whose deeds are 
good before Anunit in E. Ulbar, within Agade the noble. 

XXV. The settler of the tribes, who rules the land, 
who restored to the city of Assur its propitious clossus 
(winged bull), who made bright the flame. The king 
who in Nineveh in E. Dup Dup, and made bright the 
emblems of Istar. 

XXVI. The noble one, who humbles himself to the 
great gods. The descendant of Sumu-la-ilu, the mighty 
son of Sin-muballit, the everlasting offspring of majesty, 
the mighty king, the sun-god of Babylon, who sent far 
light upon the land of Sumir and Akhad, the king 
obeyed in all four quarters of the earth, the favourite 
of Istar. Iam that one. 


The importance of this inscription cannot be too highly 
estimated, as it contains records of both religious and 
political events in Babylonia. The opening paragraphs 
afford us a most important light upon the movement 
which led to the elevation of Babylon to the position 
of both a religious and political capital, and to a rank 
which it maintained for thousands of years. 

It is evident that the exaltation of Babylon to be 
above all other cities was a move to obtain a special 
city for the new dynasty. Although, as we have already 
seen, Babylon had existed from Sargonide age (B.C. 3800), 
being mentioned on one of the dated contracts of the 
period, when we read, “ The year when Sargon made the 
platform of the temple of Annuit, and the platform of 
the temple Ai in Babylon, and Sarlak, King of Gutium, 
he spoiled,” it had furnished no line: of kings until 


168 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


the rise of this dynasty of Arab rulers. Hitherto Ur 
and Erech, or, earlier still, Agade, and in the primitive 
times Kish, had been the seats of government. The chief 
religious centres had been Nippur, with its temple of 
Mullil, or Old Bel, in the north, and Eridu in the south, 
where the important god Ea was worshipped. We now 
see a new and important change. Maullil, or the Bel of 
Nippur, hands his authority over to Merodach, the first- 
born son of Ea. This passage is most valuable, as we 
find this same transference very strongly emphasized in 
the creation legends, which began to take literary form 
during this period. : 

In the seventh tablet, a work probably older than 
the main body of the Epic, we read this: the “Lord 
of the World, Father Bel, has proclaimed his (Merodach’s) 
name; this title, which the spirits of heaven repeated, 
did Ea hear, and his heart rejoiced, and he said, He, 
whose name his fathers have made glorious, shall be even 
as I, and the codification of my decrees he shall control, 
all my laws he shall make known.” Here, then, we see 
how the power of these two older gods was transferred 
to the local god of Babylon, Merodach, a god of whom 
we have heard very little until now. For the Merodach 
of the Magical Litanies of Eridu, known by the old 
Sumerian name of Asari-mulu-dugga—Asari, the good 
being, the exact equivalent of the Egyptian “ Osiris,” 
un nefer, “the good being”—is very different from the 
national god of Babylon. This sonship, however, which 
exists between Ea of Eridu and Merodach, may imply 
that this later city was an offshoot from the old religious 
centre on the Persian Gulf. 

In the old Sumerian creation legend™* this, indeed, 


* King, “ Creation Tablets,” p. 129. 


“KHAMMURABI THE GREAT” 169 


seems to be implied, for this text has undergone very 
considerable editing in later times. Here we read— 


“All lands were sea. 
At that time there was a movement within the sea, 
Then Eridu was made, E. Sagil was built— 
E. Sagil, where in the midst of the Deep the god Lugal-dul 
Azaga dwelleth.” 

Immediately after this the editor introduces the words, 
“The city of Babylon was built, E. Sagil was finished,” 
as if to place the new E. Sagil on a footing with the old 
one, the “house of the deep.” We find Khammurabi 
referring to this ancient shrine directly after the mountain 
house (ekwr) of Bel of Nippur, “the hero king who 
restored to Eridu its shrine, who purified the channel of 
the ocean” (par. v.). It is very important to notice the 
order of the cities in this portion of the inscription: we 
have Nippur, Eridu, Babylon, apparently an intentional 
sequence. Having affiliated the new capital with the 
oldest religious seats, he next proclaims its divine appoint- 
ment to be the seat of his royal line. “They (the gods) 
called Babylon by its illustrious name, and made it great 
among the four quarters of the earth, and founded within 
it an everlasting dynasty, which like unto heaven or earth 
its throne is founded.” 

It was the same religious movement which has occurred 
among all the great nations of antiquity. In Egypt when 
the local Theban god Amen became Amen Ra (“king of 
all the gods”) ; among the Hebrews when Yaveh became 
the one supreme god, and the Hebrews his chosen people, 
Jerusalem his city. From this time on Merodach became 
more, and not only the “supreme god, king of the gods 
of heaven and earth ;” but gradually all the minor deities 
became absorbed in his person and godhead, and a stage 
of national monotheism was reached. 


170 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


This movement culminated in the mad attempt of 
Nabonidus to formally indicate this supremacy by break- 
ing up the local schools of religious teaching, and moving 
the gods and their palladia to Babylon, in B.C. 539, an 
action which contributed more than anything else to 
prejudice the Babylonians in favour of the Catholic-minded 
Cyrus. In the light of this wonderful record of the real 
foundation of the Babylonian Empire, it is most curious 
to look some seventeen centuries ahead and note the words 
in the cylinder of Cyrus, which form the death sentence of 
this “ First of Empires”: “The gods of Sumir and Akkad, 
who, to the rage of the lord of the gods, Merodach had 
caused to enter within Suanna (Babylon), by the command 
of Merodach the great lord, in peace in their dwellings 
I caused to dwell in the abodes pleasing to the heart. All 
the gods whom I caused to enter into their towns, each 
day in the presence of Bel and Nebo, for the prolongation 
of my days may they ask, and may they call to mind 
my favourable decree, and may they speak to Merodach 
my lord, for Cyrus thy worshipper, and Cambyses his 
son.” 

To return now to Khammurabi’s text. It is to be 
noticed that it is in the main a peaceful document. We 
have only one direct reference to military affairs ; this, 
however, is important, as (pars. xi.-xiii.) it manifestly refers 
to some great battle which took place near to Isin and 
Kish, old local strongholds, which had given the new 
dynasty considerable trouble. In this respect this docu- 
ment agrees with the too fragmentary chronicle of this 
king published by Mr. King, for it is not until the thirtieth 
year of the king’s reign that there is any mention of war, 
and it is there an expedition against Emutbalim, or Elam. 
Both these events, the taking of Kish and the fall of Isin, 


TCE AVMURAB I TEE (GREAT 7a 


we considered most important events, for the former, which 
occurred in the thirteenth year of the reign of Sumula-ilu, 
the grandfather of Khammurabi, affords a date for five 
years, and the latter, taken in the seventh year of his father, 
Sin-muballit, was commemorated for thirty years after, so 
they were regarded as great historic military events. The 
passage must now be quoted in full— 

“The protector of the country, who gathered together 
the scattered people of Isin, who heaped up abundance 
in E. Gal-Makh, the dragon of the capital, own brother to 
Zamama, who founded the abode of Kish, who wrapped in 
glory E. Me-Te-Ursag, the one who doubled the treasures 
of Nini, the guardian of Kharsag Kalama, the grave of the 
enemy who, with his allies, accomplished his desire.” 

The site of Kish we know to be the mound of El 
Oheimer, a little south-east of Babylon, a site which exhibits 
every indication of being of great antiquity.* The patron 
deity of Kish was Zamama (“the god of war and battle”), 
and the name of the temple J/e-Te-Ursag (“the house of 
the adornments of the warrior”) bears this out. We do 
not know where Isin or Nisin was, but it must have been 
between Kish and Erech. Here the temple was that of 
Kharsag Kalama (“ the mountain of the world”’), dedicated 
to Nini, or Istar. There is another passage in the text 
which seems to associate Khammurabi with this region ; 
and with a great battle taking place there, it is the terrible 
curse invoked upon the one who injured this stele or 
violated the laws. 

“May Zamama, the great warrior, the firstborn son 
of E. Kur (the temple of Nippur), who marches on my 
right hand on the battlefield, break his weapons ; may she 
turn day into night for him, and bring his foes upon him. 


* See pp. 121-2. 


172 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


“Istar, the lady of wars and battles, who draws forth 
my weapons, my gracious protecting spirit, who loveth my 
rule, in her angry heart, in her mighty rage, may she curse 
his rule, and turn his good fortune to affliction ; on the 
battlefield may she shatter his weapons, disorder and 
revolt may she create for him ; may she smite his warriors, 
and pour out their blood, that the ground may drink it ; 
the heaps of the dead of his army may she heap up on the 
field ; may his soldiers find no graves; may she deliver 
him into the hands of his enemies and imprison him in the 
land of his foes.” 

Although not historical, this passage seems to associate 
these two divinities, Zamama and Istar, with some great 
event either in the reign of Khammurabi or immediately 
preceding his accession to the throne. Still more important 
is the grand pean of praise engraved upon the statue of 
the king, the lower portion of which is now in the British 
Museum. Indeed, it has very much the appearance of a 
song of accession, like the hymn to the Egyptian king, 
Amen-em-hat I.* 


“Bel hath bestowed lordly rank on thee, 

For whom dost thou wait? 

Sin (moon) hath dowered thee with princely power, 
For whom dost thou wait ? 

Ninip hath given thee the sword of supremacy, 
For whom dost thou wait ? 

Istar hath given to thee the war and battle, 
For whom dost thou wait? 

Samas and Rimmon are thy guardians, 
For whom dost thou wait?” 


ue 


“‘Jéstablish thy might 
In the four quarters of the earth. 


* Petrie, ‘‘ History of Egypt,” vol. 1. p. 230. 


——— ae 


“KHAMMURABI THE GREAT” I 


NI 
Oo 


May thy name be proclaimed. 

May thy widespread people 
Address supplication to thee. 

May they bow down their faces 
In reverence before thee. 

Let them celebrate 
Thy great glory. 

May they tender obedience 
Unto thy supremacy.” 


Col. IV. 


“ He hath established, 
He hath made glorious to future days 
The greatness of his power. 
Khammurabi, the strong warrior, 
The destroyer of his foes. 
He is the hurricane of battle, 
Sweeping the land of his foes. 
He bringeth opposition to naught, 
He putteth an end to insurrection. 
He breaketh the warrior 
Like an image of clay.” 


This beautiful text has every appearance of being 
a grand song of praise to one who had just accom- 
plished some great feat of arms, such as the over- 
throw of the Elamites, who had so long oppressed the 
land.* 

It is now time to see if we can find any trace of this 
great victory which had so impressed itself on the 
annals of the period. In this inscription, which I have 
given at the commencement of the chapter, we have 
(par. xii.) a short phrase which has every appearance 
of history. As the value is great, I give the transcribed 
text in full. 

* As the inscription is bilingual in Semitic Babylonian and 


Assyrian, it was evidently intended to be read by all the king’s 
subjects. 


174 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


El Ns cee EN SENT SEW tt > YY Sal Sal 
= SEI] <Y- Basa) EY EY EEY Cc (EY a8 Se] SEM BE <Q Sap 
SEN Ql <EE EIT 87 DY EYEE AS Ss] 38] EY 
BE NY WS EY 8 SME -DL CE] mE HN 
HE IE) Baa] = tA GEE OFIIEE EN OEY OIE 
—<T <Er NY ENT =] EEN SUEY ENN EN - EY <J- EY 


ste al 3) iil 


TRANSCRIPTION. 

“ Usum-gal Sar ali ta-li-im (Ilu) Za-ma-ma Mu-Sar-si-id 
Su-ba-at Kis (ki) mu-ta-a8-khi-ir mi-il-im-mi Bit ME-TE- 
URSAG Mu-us-te-i8-bi pa-ar-2i ra-bu-u-tim sa (Il) Nini 
pa-ki-iel bi-tim Khar-sag Kalama E-KISAL na-ki-ri Sa 
nit-ra-ru-Su u-Sa-ak-Si-du ni-is-ma-su.” 

“The dragon of the royal city, the own brother of 
Zamama, who wrapt in splendour ‘the temple of the 
pomps of war, who doubled the mighty treasures of 
Istar. The guardian of ‘the temple of the mountain 
of the world,’ the tomb of the enemy, who with his allies 
brought about his desire.” 


This passage manifestly refers to a great battle fought 
in the neighbourhood of the ancient stronghold of Kis, 
that is, near the mound of El Oheimar, a little south-east 
of Babylon. It is worthy of note that, in the reign of 
Sennacherib, a great battle was fought in the same neigh- 
bourhood, in which the Elamites were defeated, and in 
many respects this plain is the strategical key of Baby- 
lonia. It appears to me impossible to relegate this great 
event to the thirtieth and thirty-first years of the king’s 
reign, but rather to regard it as the event which established 


“KHAMMURABI THE GREAT” 175 


him on the throne. On this point, however, we have some 
historical evidence of importance. On a tablet (B. 64, No. 
33,221) we have a very important date: “The year of 
Khammurabi, the king, in which, 
with the help of Bel and Anu, estab- 
lished his good fortune, and cast to 
the earth the land of Emulbal and 
Rim Agu, or Sin, the king.” This 
date seems almost exactly to agree 
with the expression, “the help of Bel 
and Anu cast to the earth the land 
of Emutbal,” being the allies who 
helped and those who were over- 
thrown. This tablet, it is important 
to notice, comes from Senkereh, or 
Larsa, the city of which Sin-idinna, 
the correspondent of Khammurabi, 
was governor. A number of these 
tablets were found as far back as 
1854 by Mr. Loftus, and most of them 
are dated in the reign of Rim Sin, or, 
as the name may be read, Rim Agu, fi 
or Aku (Vl tt oP =I =NT) 5 BRONZE FIGURE. 
but the syllable zm is an abbre- 

viation of Erim (>=) --] ~. -=]]), “servant,” so the 
name means “servant of the moongod.” The form 
Eriv-Aku would appear in Hebrew in the form Arioch 
(8, Gen. xiv. I-19). So that there is every reason for 
identifying this king with the king of Larsa, of which 
he was ruler, mentioned in Genesis xiv. We have 
several inscriptions of this ruler, and many tablets dated 
in his reign. The most important text is one upon a 
bronze figure exhibited in the British Museum, which 


176 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


was a votive offering by Eri-aku and his father, the 
Elamite king Kudur-mabug. 

Here we see the king, who is evidently acting as 
viceroy of his father, claiming rule over Nippur, Ur, and 
Larsa, and also the general title of Sumir and Akkad. 
There is no mention of Babylon. Larsa was evidently the 
seat of his rule. There is now to be noticed the fact that, 
throughout the whole of the canon of dates for the reigns 


CYLINDER OF ERI-AKU (RIM SIN). 


preceding the reign of Khammurabi, there is no mention 
of Larsa, which shows that it was not one of the cities 
which the early kings of the dynasty ruled, or endowed 
its temple. Yet we find Khammurabi doing so, and 
using an important epithet in describing his relation to 
it. He speaks of himself as “the avenging warrior 
(karrad gamil) of Larsa, the restorer of the house of 
light, for the sun-god his helper (7227 sz).” So it was 
not until the overthrow of the rule of Eri-aku that the 
kings of Babylon could exercise authority in Larsa. The 
same applies to the city of Nisin, which seems to have 


“KHAMMURABI THE GREAT” 177 


been under the rule of the Elamites also. For the king 
calls himself the “divine protector (z/z zalulu) of the 
land, who gathered together the scattered people of 
Nisin, who heaps up abundance in the house of the noble 
palace.” 

The tablets of Rim Sin are many of them dated in 
the year of the taking of Nisin, thus, the fifth year (B. 47), 
sixth (B. 50), seventh, eighth, ninth, and up to the twenty- 
eighth, so the event was one of great importance in the 
annals of the ruling house of Larsa. In the chronicle we 
find the seventeenth year dated as the year in which the 
city of Isin was taken. This date I take to apply to 
the recapture of the city by Sin-mu-ballit, the father of 
Khammurabi, and not to the event which gives the era 
to the tablets of Rim Sin. The fall of Nisin, then, given 
on these tablets from Larsa, would have taken place early 
in the reign of Apil Sin. Taking all these data together, 
it seems evident that there was a great battle fought near 
Kis and Kharsag Kalama, in which Rim Sin, or Eri-aku, 
and the King of Elam were defeated, and the power of 
the Arabian dynasty established, and in this great victory 
Khammurabi was the leading spirit. If, then, we make 
Eri-aku, or Rim Sin, the contemporary of Sin-mu-ballit the 
father, we have a much more reasonable solution of the 
difficulties in-the history of this period, than in rele- 
gating the defeat of the Elamites to the latter part of 
the reign of Khammurabi. 

A great deal of ingenious philological energy has 
been expended on the identification of the allied kings 
who invaded Palestine in the age of Abram, and were 
defeated by him ; and the identification of Khammurabi 
or the variation Ammurabi, with the Amraphel there 
mentioned, is boldly asserted, so much so that one august 

N 


178 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


person speaks of him as the “ friend of Abram.” But of 
all the attempts which have been put forward, none has 
really been found sound. In the bilingual list of kings, 
Khammurabzis rendered by Kimta rapastum. An ammu, 
or Khammu, is regarded as the equivalent of the Hebrew 
Am, and taken to be the name of a divinity—the Moon, 
according to Hommel. But on the evidence of the great 
code associated with the name of this ruler, it seems to 
me the translation in the bilingual list can be much 
better explained. The word Khammu, from the root 
Khamamu, means “law.” This is beyond doubt when 
we look at some examples. There is a passage in the 
legend where Zu steals the tablets of law and destiny 
from the god Bel, which reads, “I will seize the tablets of 
destiny and the laws (¢erzte) of all the gods. I will legislate 
(akhmum).... Again we meet with the words Kha- 
mimat gimir pars, “the dictator of decrees applied to 
Istar.”* Both Ammu and Khammu are no doubt cog- 
nates, and we find the former used in the code text 
(Col. IV. 53, 54), “who directs the law, to adjudge deci- 
sions (ammz).” Sothat the reading of the name is but a 
variation or a paraphrase, “the great Decider of Law,” and 
“the law is widespread,” where Azm7z is for Kintz (“law ”), 
So, also, this reading supplies us with a concise rendering 
of the Ammz sadugga of the same list, Kimta Kittim (“the 
law is established ”).f 

I now come to the question of the real Amraphel. It 
cannot be Khammurabi, for in his reign he was overlord 
of all Chaldea, and appears at no time in alliance with 
any king of Elam or his viceroy. ‘ 

In the dynastic tablet published by Pinches (P.S.2.A., 


* King, “Seven Tablets of Creation,” p. 225. 
+ We may compare the use of 227 in modern Arabic names. 


“KHAMMURABI THE GREAT” 179 


May 6, 1884), we have the name of S7z-muballit, the father 
of Khammurabi, written in a short form, in ideograms, 
Amar (<<), Pal (= J*), the reading of which is Sin- 
muballit. Here we have an almost exact equivalent 
of the Hebrew “Amraphel.” This king, as far as his 
chronicles are accessible to us, was not so powerful as his 
great son, and so, possibly, his rule only extended over 
Sumir, or Shinar, and his name to his Sumerian subjects 
would be Amarphal, or Amraphel, king of Shinar, or Sumir. 
In this position he would be contemporary with the 
Elamite dynasty ruling at Larsa, and with the Elamite 
overlord, possibly Kudur-lagamar (servant of Lagamar), 
who, no doubt, also had relations with the people of Kuti, 
or Guti, that is, Kurdistan (the Goim, or Nations), and such 
an alliance as is recorded in Genesis xiv. would not only 
be possible, but highly probable, in his reign. 

At present it is impossible to establish any fixed 
chronology for this period, but some approximate estimate 
may be formed. 

Assurbanipal states that the Elamite king Kudur Nak- 
hunti had carried away the statue of Nana 1635 years 
before the campaign in B.C. 650-49. Now, if we assume 
this to be the invasion which established the line of Elamite 
rulers at Larsa, and also that Assurbanipal was reckoning 
from the end of that rule, we have a date which agrees 
with several other authorities. Berossos, the Chaldean 
historian, who certainly had access to cuneiform records, 
states that “astronomical observations commenced at 
Babylon ;” they may have been ordered 490 years 
before the age of Phoroneus, consequently in B.c. 2243, 
which would fall in the reign of Khammurabi, and his 
alteration of the calendar and insertion of an intercalary 
month implies astronomical observations. 


180 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


According to Stephanos of Byzantium, Babylon was 
built 1002 years before the date of the siege of Troy, 
which was in B.C. 1229, according to Hellanikos, that is, in 
B.C. 2231. Altogether it is not unreasonable, therefore, to 
place the reign of Khammurabi approximately at B.C. 
2285, which would make it last B.c. 2285-2231. The only 
monumental catch-date is that given by Nabonidus in his 
cylinder that Burnaburias lived 700 years after Kham- 
murabi, and that Sagasalte Burias, another Kassite ruler, 
lived 800 years before Nabonidus. If this is the Burna- 
burias who was the correspondent of Amenophis III. in 
B.C. 1450, this would give us 2150 B.C., but we must treat 
this as a round number, Until further data are accessible, 
we may therefore, on fair grounds, place the reign of 
Khammurabi B.C. 2285-2231. 

This would give us for the dynasty the reigns as 
follows :-— 


Sumu-abu_... oo .» 23070Ee 
Sumu-la-ilu oe 1 2202mEne 
Zabu ae Se . 2347 Bie 
Apil Sin i pe .., 2330 
Sin-muballit Aa .. 230 5aBe 
Khammurabi ve ... 220 5iaees 


Of the Elamite rulers of this period we know the 
names of four, but their order is not certain. These are 
Simti-Silkhak and his son Kudur-mabug, and Eriaku, 
viceroy of Larsa, son of the latter viceroy of Larsa, Kudur 
Nakhunte, who carried away the image of Nana, or Istar, 
from Erech ; and we may reasonably include Chedorlaomer, 
or Kudur Lagamar, in the list, on the authority of Genesis 
Xiv. 

We may therefore conclude that at the end of the reign, 


“KHAMMURABI THE GREAT” 18I 


and possibly during a partial regency of Khammurabi, 
the Elamite and his allies were defeated near Kish in a 
great battle, and the foreign rule came to an end. It is 
in regard to the spoils of this victory, the captured 
goddesses of Emutbalim, that Khammurabi writes to 
Siniddim the famous letters in the British and Constanti- 
nople Museums. I give the translations of these important 
documents, 


“Unto Sin-iddinam,—Thus saith Khammurabi, be- 
hold, I am now sending unto Kikerili-su the. . . officer 
and Khammurabi-bani the courier, that they bring hither 
the goddesses of the country of Emutbalum. Thou shalt 
cause the goddesses to travel in a processional boat as 
in a shrine, that they may come to Babylon. The 
band of women shall follow after them. For the food of 
the goddesses thou shalt provide sheep, and thou shalt take 
on board food for the provision of the band of women 
for the journey, until they reach Babylon. And thou 
shalt appoint men to draw the rope, and picked soldiers, 
that they may bring the goddesses to Babylon in safety. 
Let them not delay, but speedily reach Babylon.” 


This letter needs no explanation as to its bearing on 
the history of the period. In the battle in which Rim-Sin, 
or Eriaku, and the king of Emutbal had been defeated, 
the statues of certain Elamite goddesses had been taken. 
Like the Ark of the Covenant of the Hebrews, they 
constituted the palladia of the Elamites, and consequently 
they must be treated with respect due to their divinity. 
As the Philistines placed the captive Ark in the temple of 
Dagon (1 Sam. v. 3, e¢ seg.), in Ashdod, so Khammurabi 
desired so important a booty to be sent to Babylon. The 


182 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


importance of the capture of national or tribal gods is a 
well-known fact in ancient history. It was for this reason 
that the Assyrians carried away the gods of a conquered 
people. Esarhaddon carried away the gods of the Arabs, 
and when he returned them, wrote his name upon them, 
so that they might remember him. When Assurbanipal 
captured Susa in B.C. 650, he brought back the statue of 
Istar, which had been carried away 1635 years before by 
Kudur-nan Khunti. From another inscription we know 
that the statues of Marduk and his consort Zirat-panit 
had been carried away by the king of Khani-rabat 
(North Mesopotamia), and were brought back with great 
ceremony by the Kassite king Aqum, or Agum-ru-rimi, 
about B.C. 1500. 

Khammurabi orders the captured goddesses to be 
surrounded by their own retinue and provided for like 
queens, They were to travel in #a-lali, that is, “ boat-like 
arks,” like the barks (or boats) of the Egyptian gods. And 
their own band of devotees (£2zret2) were to accompany 
them. They were to be provided with food (kurumat), for 
the meals of the divinities were a most important part of 
the temple ritual. In the great inscription of Khammurabi 
we find these meals mentioned. Thus we read (Col. III., 30, 
or par. xvii.), “establishing the ceremonies of the cities of 
Kes, who restored the holy meals (#akalie) of the goddess 
Nin Tu.” So also the king provided holy meals for Nin 
Asu (Col. IV., 35, par. xxiii.). These holy meals, or the daily 
or nightly meals, provided for the god Bel, are mentioned in 
the Apocryphal book of Bel and the Dragon. A body of 
men were told off to draw the tow-ropes, for the boats had 
to cross Babylonia by the canals which intersected the 
plain, and so towing would be necessary. The “chosen 
soldiers” are rather interesting, as we meet with them in the 


“KHAMMURABI THE GREAT” 183 


Bible. The words are zabam bikhram (‘chosen soldiers ”). 
These are evidently the dkhorim, or “youths,” as it is 
rendered, from whom Joshua was selected (Numb. ix. 28), 
who formed the entourage of Moses. It must have been, 
indeed, a stately pageant, this journey of the goddesses, 
which, four thousand years ago, passed through the canals 
of Babylonia. 

The second letter relating to these goddesses is in 
the Imperial Ottoman Museum at Constantinople, and 
is the one in which Professor Schiel and Dr. Pinches * 
imagined they had found the name of Kudur-lagamar, or 
Chedorlaomer. It reads— 

“Unto Sin-iddinam,—Thus saith Khammurabi, the 
goddesses of Emutbalum which were in thy charge, the 
troops under the command of Inukh-Samar will bring 
unto thee in safety. When they shall reach thee with the 
troops thou hast in charge, and the troops thou shalt 
divert,j the goddesses to their shrines shall they bring in 
safety.” 

Both the text and date of this letter are a little diffi- 
cult to explain. Until we knew more of the reign of this 
king from the discoveries made by M. de Morgan at Susa, 
the explanation given by Mr. King seemed perfectly 
satisfactory. 

He says, “It is not improbable that, after they had 
been removed to Babylon, in accordance with Khammu- 
rabi’s instructions, the Babylonian forces were defeated by 
the Elamites, and that this misfortune was attributed by 


* Schiel, “ Rec. des Trav.,” tom. xx. p. 64. Pinches, “ Inscriptions 
and Records referring to Babylonia or Elam,” pp. 27-30. 

} King reads “destroy the people,” but I take /zfzzt-ma to mean, 
as in other places, “‘turn aside,” “ divert.” 

¢ “ Khammurabi III.,” p. 11. 


184 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


them to the wrath of the goddesses at being taken from 
their shrines. We may suppose that it was to appease 
their anger that Khammurabi decided to send them back 
to their own country.” 

I am now more inclined to think that at the time this 
second letter was written Khammurabi was ruling over 
Emutbal, and, by returning the goddesses, wished to 
increase his hold on the land. 

The code still, no doubt, was carried away as spoil 
by the Elamite king, Sutruk Nakhunte, about B.C. 1300, 
with another inscription of this king, on a black granite 
block, on which is an inscription in Sumerian. This may 
possibly be a monument of his presence in the country. 
The text has been somewhat imperfectly published 
by Schiel (‘‘Textes Elamites Semitiques,” tom. 1. pp: 
84, 85). 

Owing to its broken nature, it cannot be clearly 
translated. 


“ Khammurabi, 
the mighty hero, 
the warrior king (ursag), 
King of the four quarters of the earth, 
who hath brought into subjection 
the favourite of Anu ; 
proclaimed by command of Bel, 
whose might 
the great gods created, 
and announced his name ; 
with his royal weapon 
the enemy his hand defeated ; 
with his host 
the foe his sword destroyed. 


the hostile lands. . . 
the mighty hero... . 


? 


This inscription is much in the style of the coronation 


“KHAMMURABI THE GREAT” 185 


hymn already referred to, and may form part of some 
monument erected by Khammurabi in Elam. 

The defeat of the Elamites and the deliverance of 
the land from their rule established Khammurabi on his 
throne. How terrible this invasion must have been is 
shown by many of the expressions used by the king as 
to the cities he benefited. 

The people of Isin were “scattered, and he gathered 
them together ;” the city of Malga, or Malka, had been 
pillaged, and the king “captured all their robbers, and 
delivered them from destruction, and made them a home 
among plenty.” Of other minor towns he says, “he cared 
for their inhabitants in their affliction, and gave them a 
portion within Babylon.” 

Perhaps the terrible effect of this invasion is best 
reflected in a poem which we may ascribe to this period. 
It relates to the sack of Erech. 


“ How long, O my Lady, shall the strong enemy hold thy sanctuary ? 
There is famine in Erech, thy princely city. 
Blood flows like water in E. Ulbar, the house of thy oracle. 
He has kindled and poured out fire like hailstorms on thy land. 
O my Lady, I am sorely fettered by misfortune. 
My Lady, thou hast surrounded me and brought me to grief ; 
The mighty enemy hath smitten me down like a reed. 
I am not wise ; with myself I cannot take counsel. 
I mourn day and night like the fields.* 
I, thy servant, pray to thee; 
Let thy heart be rested and thy mind at ease.” 


One other fragment of historical information —alas! 
too small and fragmentary—must be noticed. It is in 
paragraph xxv. of the introduction to the Code Text 
(Coll TVs): 


* Possibly a reference to the uncultivated state of the land. 


186 THE FIRST OF EMPIRiS 


me 8 Fl Ce Ry mA SS 2 8 Bee 
=< 7] he -y Sl 2] = Gee 
rT tw =e eo Sa 
<j = 4 ee El = -) See 


EE SY EV SIT SEV EYE EV = <-RY  OEN >t WI 


TRANSCRIPTION. 


“Mu-se-bi Ki-na-tim mu-Su-Se-ir am-mi mu-te-ir Lam- 
massu-8u da-mi-ik-tim a-na (Alu) A-u-Sar (ki) mu-Se-ib- 
tim ni-bi-khi Sarru Sa ina Ni-nu-a (ki) i-na Bit DUD DUB 
u-Su-bi-u Simate (Ilat) Nini (Istar).” 

(“Who settled the tribes, who directs by law, who 
restored to the city of Assur its propitious winged bull, 
making bright with splendour. The king who in Nineveh, 
in the temple of Dubdub, made splendid the emblems 
of Istar.”) 


This fragment is of great historical importance, as it 
shows that both Assur and Nineveh were in existence 
in the days of Khammurabi, that is, more than four 
centuries earlier than any Assyrian record we possess. 
This passage confirms the brief message in one of the 
royal letters (No. 1), where we read, “Two hundred and 
forty men of the king’s company under the command 
of Nannar-iddina, and who are of the force that is in 
thy hand, and who have left the country of Assur and the 
district of Situllum.” These passages show that as early 
as B.C. 2250 circ. there was a military intercourse between 
Assyria and Babylonia, and the reference to the restora- 
tion of the winged bull would seem to imply its having 


SS AMVURABL THE GREAT” 187 


been carried away as spoil of war. The earliest viceroys 


Photo, Eyre and Spotliswoode. 
ASSYRIAN WINGED BULL. 


of Assur, whose dates are known, are Ismi Dagan 
(B.C. 1840), and his son, Samsi-Ramman (B.C. 1820). The 


188 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


name of st <<] =I] (eze-sz, viceroy), given to the early 
rulers of Assyria, shows that it was a province or colony 
under a suzerain, and that overlord we now know to 
be the ruling king of Babylon. It is to be noticed that 
we have the archaic spelling of Assur—Au-sar—instead 
of As-sur, which perhaps may be the old Sumerian 
form of the name; if so, it means “the city on the waters’ 
bank.” 

With regard to Nineveh, it is most certainly a Semiti- 
cized form of the old Sumerian name of Nina, in its usual 
ideographic form (=7x<] <JE]), and shows, as I have said, its 
origin. Nina, who figures prominently in the oldest pan- 
theon, that of the kings of Sirpurra, or Lagash, was the 
goddess of the marshes. To her a quarter of the city of 
Sirpurra was dedicated. She was the daughter of Ea, and 
as such she was “ the goddess of pools and marshes.” That 
her cult attached itself to Nineveh and its goddess Istar, 
though the latter had none of the characteristics of the 
old Sumerian goddess, is shown by the words of the 
Hebrew prophet Nahum (ii. 8): “ Nineveh hath been from 
old time like a pool of water.” However, it is clearly 
shown by these valuable passages that Assyria was a 
colony and a dependency of the ancient mother country 
of Babylonia, and that its history is more ancient than 
we had expected. 

The great king had a Herculean task before him to 
repair the terrible destruction of cities, temples, and public 
works which had resulted from these years of oppression 
and anarchy. The letters and despatches of this great 
monarch show the wonderful spirit of energy and faculty 
for organization he possessed. All social and religious 
administration was settled in Babylon, and from his letters, 
now among the most priceless treasures of the British 


“KHAMMURABI THE GREAT” 189 


Museum,* we can see how he personally superintended 
all the business of the state. Perhaps the most striking 
feature of this wonderful correspondence is the accessi- 
bility of the monarch to even the most humble of his 
subjects. The disputes as to corn stolen from a granary 
(12), or loans of corn (13), rent (14), and disputes with 
money lenders (21, 46), and the despatch of witnesses 
(41, 43), were all matters to which he gave personal 
attention, as well as the higher affairs of state and finance, 
for he appears to have been very strict in the matter of 
revenue collection, and brooked no excuse (19, 21); and 
he was severe upon bribery (8). This is in accordance 
with the fourth section of the code, which says, “If a 
man has offered corn or money to a witness, he shall 
bear the sentence of that case.” 

It was more to the great public works, the construction 
or repair of the great navigable and irrigation canals, that 
the king directed his attention, and the construction of 
two great works are recorded, the chief being the canal 
of Khammurabi, “the abundance for men,” and another 
called Tisid Bel. The former was commenced in his eighth 
year, and the latter in the thirty-third ; but his letters show 
many other public works which he directed. 

He also extended the canal from Sippara to the 
Euphrates, from which the latter had shifted its course. 
It is curious to note that years after Nabonidus had to 
again extend the canal to join the receding river. 

The inscription recording the Nukhus-nisi canal, which 
we may identify with the Nahr-malka, or “ Royal river,” is 
upon a tablet in the Louvre in Paris, and reads as follows :— 

* These have been excellently published by Mr. L. W. King, M.A., 


of the Department of Oriental Antiquities of the British Museum, and 
the numbers here given refer to vol. iii. 


190 THE ‘FIRST OF EMPIRES 


“ Khammurabi, the mighty king, the king of Babylon, 
who brought into subjection the four quarters of the world, 
who accomplished the triumph of Marduk, the pastor who 
delighted his hearers, I am he. 

“When Ilu and Bel gave me the land of Sumir and 
Akkad to rule, and their authority entrusted to my hands, 
I dug out the river of Khammurabi (called) the ‘abun- 
dance of the people,’ which bringeth abundance to the land 
of Sumir and Akkad. Both the banks I changed, and to 
arable land I turned, as a granary for grain I heaped up, 
and I established perennial waters for the land of Sumir 
and Akkad. 

“For the land of Sumir and Akkad I collected the 
scattered people thereof, and food and drink I set before 
them, and in abundance and fertility I set them, and a 
peaceful place I caused them to abide in. At that time 
I, Khammurabi, the mighty king, beloved of the great 
god, by the mighty power which Marduk has given me, 
built a great tower, with much earth, of which its summit 
like a mountain reaches on high at the head of the canal 
of Khammurabi, called the ‘abundance of the people.’ 
This tower I called the tower ‘Dur Sin-muballi, abinu- 
walidia.’ Thus did I cause the renown of Sin-muballit the 
father, my begetter, to dwell in the four quarters of the 
earth.” 

It is difficult to identify this royal canal with any 
degree of certainty, but it is probably the Yusuffieh canal. 
The inscription relating to the extension of the Sippara 
canal is bilingual in Sumerian, and is written upon a 
two-clay cylinder in the British Museum (12.212.12.216). 
After the usual opening, we read— 

“The summit of the wall of Sippar I have raised with 
earth like a great mountain; I have encircled it with a 


“KHAMMURABI THE GREAT” Igl 


swamp. I have dug a Euphrates * unto Sippar, and have 
set up a protecting wall for it. (I am) Khammurabi the 
founder of the land, whose works are pleasing unto the 
hearts of Samas and Marduk. I have caused Sippar and 
Babylon to abide in tranquillity for alltime. Khammurabi, 
the favourite of Samas, the beloved of Marduk, I am he. 
That which no king among the city kings (Serrz alz) had 
done for Samas my lord grandly I executed.” 

In the opening inscription of the code stele we have, 
as I have already said, a record of the king’s restoration 
of “the house of light” (Z. Babbar) in the Southern Helio- 
polis, or Larsa (par. ix.). In the British Museum (No. 
12.219) is a marble votive tablet recording these pious 
works. Only a phrase need be quoted, as most of it is 
similar to the opening of the inscriptions given above. 
“When Samas had entrusted to his hands the authority, 
then he built for Samas the lord, who is the protector of 
his life, the house E Babbar, his beloved house which is 
in Larsa, the city of his rule.” Other inscriptions record 
the restoration of the temple of Nini, or Istar, in Khallab, 
as recorded in the code text (par. xix.), and E. Zida for 
Marduk in Borsipha (par. xv.). One little fragment 
(22.455) is worth notice. It only bears the short inscrip- 
tion, “ The palace of Khammurabi,” but as it was found at 
El Oheimar, the ancient Kis, it shows that the king had a 
royal residence in the oldest of Chaldean cities. The 
great public works carried out by Khammurabi and other 
rulers must have required a large amount of labour, and 
it could only be obtained by the employment of the corvee. 
This is clearly proved by several of the royal letters which 
relate to the public works. 


* The use of Euphrates for “river” is interesting. The Kabar 
canal of Nippur was called the Euphrates of that city. 


192 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


The employment of the dzd/u, or “corvee,’ was very 
systematic in Babylonia. Each district had to find its 
own corvee for its own public works, but at the same time 
large corvees were raised for works of national importance. 
As examples of the local corvee, we may quote a letter 
to Sin-iddina (No. V.): “The men who on the banks of 
the Damanum canals hold lands, summon, and let men 
clear the Damanum canal, within the present month shall 
they clear the canal.” In another letter (No. VI.) the 
king writes complaining that a navigable canal connecting 
Erech with the Euphrates is blocked, and that ships cannot 
go up it, so he orders the work to be commenced at once. 
“This work,” he says, “is not too much for the men with 
you. When thou shalt see this letter (tablet) with the 
strength of men which are with you, within three days 
clear out the canal within Erech. After you have cleared 
the canal, do then the work regarding which I wrote to 
you.” In another tablet, published by M. Thureau Dangin, 
the king speaks of a body of men who have been sent 
south to Sin-iddina to undertake work in two cities — 
Larsa and Lakhab. The text is very much mutilated, 
but the king says he is sending 360 workmen, labourers 
(zabilute) ; “180 (3s0s) are for the work at Larsa, and 180 
for the work at Lakhabi.” Interesting light is thrown 
upon the corvee in Babylonia by the clauses in a land 
grant of Melisikhu found by M. de Morgan at Susa, dating 
about B.C. 1300, which contains these words *— 

“On a public work or task, whether for the king or 
governor who in the province of Pir Bel shall be appointed, 
shall be supplied, or on any new (corvee) work which a 

* Schiel, “ Textes Elamite Semitiques,” tom. iv. p. 103. A trans- 


lation of mine appears in Aszatic and Imperial Review, September, 
Igol. 


“KHAMMURABI THE GREAT” 193 


king or governor in the province of Per Bel is appointed 
shall carry out and execute, or on any old work which 
from the hand of time has fallen, and anew he would raise 
on that work they shall not work.” The king, as the 
state, could commandeer stock or produce for public works ; 
and here again this inscription is interesting, for we are 
told that this estate was exempt from levy “for wood, or 
vegetables, or straw, or corn, or any kind of produce; or a 
waggon, or team, or ass, or man, could be commandeered.” 

A still more explicit exemption is given in the words 
“In the levies (azéutu) taken from the cities of Istar or 
Agade, they shail not labour either on the corvee of the 
lock of the royal river (zar-sarrz) ; to excavate or close the 
channel of the royal river they shall not be called.” These 
exemptions very well illustrate the nature of corvee work 
in Babylonia. The men on this work were supplied with 
provisions from the government or communal stores, but 
some degree of cruelty appears to have been employed in 
sending them to work, as there was under the Egyptian 
corvee, for in one letter (xxxviii.) the king orders them 
“to be yoked together and placed on ships.” 

One important feature of this ancient royal corre- 
spondence is the absolute promptitude with which the 
king requires his orders to be carried out ; such as, “ Let 
him arrive here quickly, let him not delay.” And often he 
fixes the time, or even the date, by which he expects the 
persons or goods to arrive in Babylon ; as, “See that they 
travel night and day (sw5¢ w wrri), and reach Babylon in 
two days” (xXxxii.). 

Little more can be said of this wonderful monarch, who, 
by his skill and administrative faculty, laid the foundations 
on a firm basis. In most cases the praises or the very 
words of an Oriental monarch require to be taken cus 

O 


194 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


grano salis, but when we see the wonderful work which 
this king accomplished, there is much justification for 
their use. When he says, “I am Khammurabi, who is to 
his people as the father who bore them, who has caused 
the words of Marduk to be held in reverence, triumph for 
Marduk on highland and lowland he has accomplished ; 
who has made glad the heart of Marduk, who prosperity 
to his people to all time has bequeathed, and proclaimed 
order in the land,” with the material now accessible to us 
as to the history of the reign of this great king, and the 
evidence they afford us of his power and greatness, these 
words do not seem too highly toned. Suffice to say that 
Khammurabi, the great king, the father of his people, the 
builder of the Babylonian Empire, the first of law-givers, 
may justly take his place among the mighty ones of the 
earth, whose names are emblazoned on the roll of history. 


CHAPTER VII 


Shik CODE, OF KEANMMURABL ” 


event has occurred than the discovery of this won- 

derful code of laws associated with the name of 
Khammurabi, King of Babylon. To the student of Assy- 
riology it is not so much a surprise, for there have not been 
wanting many clear indications that from the very earliest 
times there had existed among the old Sumerian popu- 
lation of Babylonia some set of precedential decisions by 
which the affairs of men were decided, and also that 
certain offences, injurious to the individual, the family, or 
the community, were deemed worthy of divine wrath, and 
merited punishment at the hands of men. No community 
could attain to the degree of civilization, which we find 
to have existed in Babylonia, in the fifth millennium before 


a all annals of Oriental research, no more important 


our era, without having formulated some kind of moral 
and ethical code. The Greco-Chaldean writer ascribes the 
original laws to the mysterious fisherman Oannes, whom 
we may identify with the god Ea of Eridu, and this 
attribution is borne out by monumental evidence. In the 
opening lines of this code, Khammurabi speaks of Ea as 
the divine lord of law (//u bel kitti), while a very ancient 
tablet of warnings to kings against doing injustice speaks 
of the laws of Ea. ‘The king who obeys not the law, 
his people revolt, his land perishes. If to the law of his 
195 


196 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


land he complies not, Ea, the lord of fate, his destiny 
shall proclaim, and another shall sit in his place.” * 

The mention of judges (daivz) in the most ancient 
inscriptions shows that some kind of legislation was in 
force. In the inscription of Manistu-su (B.C. 4500) we 
have mention of Galzu the Judge, which implies the 
existence of a law to be administered. In the tablets 
of the First Sargonide age (B.C. 3800) we meet with the 
names of judges and scribes, while, by the age of Gudea, 
we find law courts with numerous officials in existence. 
In these inscriptions we get for the first time, although 
we may regard it as comparatively late, a sketch of the 
organization of Babylonian society. Describing the 
ceremonies at the laying of the foundation of his temple 
to Nin Sugur, the patron god of Sirpurra, the king speaks 
of “judges, doctors, and chiefs who attended in state.” T 
Again, it was a propitious time, as the augurs had ascer- 
tained ; no burial had taken place, no one had taken his 
neighbour to the place of oath, no robber had entered 
the house of another. 

Wherever a community has existed, a certain law 
must exist, as the result of common sense, and the 
protection of the common weal. Even among the most 
primitive races murder, adultery, lying, and theft would 
be condemned as dangerous to the common good. Hence 
there would grow up a system based on personal responsi- 
bility, and on the jus ¢alionis principle. A life for a life, 
an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, was the natural 
law of life, and it is found in all communities, however 
degraded. 

Adultery violated the sanctity of the family, and 


* “Select Inscriptions,’ xv. 50. 
t Statue B., Cols. IV. and V. 


“THE CODE OF KHAMMURABI” 197 


produced confusion in the important matter of descent, 
and this was especially the case where the law of matri- 
archy was enforced, as it certainly was to some extent 
in Egypt and Chaldea, and among the early Hebrews 
and Arabs. Lying entailed unjust accusation and punish- 
ment on another, and theft naturally entailed punishment. 
Thus we find in all the ancient codes these violations of 
communal life condemned. 

In a strict sense, the code of Khammurabi is the oldest 
in the world, a thousand years before the Mosaic law ; but 
other tables of morality have existed, such as the Negative 
Confessions in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and the 
almost similar table which is found in the Surpu tablets, 
a series of magical litanies of ancient Babylonia. There 
is much resemblance between these two tables of morality 
—perhaps one might suggest an association between them. 
Both, however, are works which are of priestly origin, or 
at least have undergone editing at priestly hands, and 
many of the offences enumerated are religious rather than 
ethical. This is especially the case in regard to the 
Negative Confession (B. D., cxxv.), where we can plainly 
see that the long code with its forty-two clauses is a 
priestly elaboration of the shorter confession which pre- 
cedes it. This, again, is but an expanded version of the 
simple code of brotherly love and neighbourly duty which 
we find upon the funeral stele, and which, no doubt, was 
the code of Egyptian society. 

How often in these steles we read the words, “I have 
given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothing 
to the naked. I was open of hand to all men and women. 
I was devoted to my father, loving to my mother, kind in 
heart to my brothers, united in heart to my fellow-towns- 
men.” Here is purity of life, almost equal to the Christian 


198 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


standard. In the more specific confession, which is the 
older document in the Book of the Dead (ch. cxxyv.), 
we find a code which is required by a more advanced 
community, and which is religious as well as ethical, and 
it presents many affinities to the ethical litany of the 
Surpu tablets and to the code of Khammurabi. This 
similarity is to be expected from the similarity of environ- 
ment in which the Egyptians and Chaldeans lived. 

As in this work I am dealing chiefly with Chaldean 
matter, and only using the records of Egypt for compara- 
tive purposes, I will take the Babylonian code as the basis 


of study. 


BABYLONIAN. 

He has not estranged son or 
father, mother or daughter, etc. 

He has not offended a god or 
held a goddess in light esteem. 

Is his sin against his own god 
or his own goddess ? 

He has not done violence to one 
older than himself. 

He has not caused hatred against 
an elder brother. 

He has not been generous in small 
things, though mean in great 
things. 

He hath not said Yea for Nay, 
nor has he said Nay for Yea. 
Has he spoken of unclean things 
or has he counselled dis- 

obedience ? 

Has he used false scales? 


Has he accepted a wrong account 
or refused a rightful sum ? 

Has he disinherited a légitimate 
son, or recognized an illegiti- 
mate son? 


EGYPTIAN. 


I have not oppressed the members 
of my family. 

I have not thought scorn of God. 

I have not cursed god. 

I have not thought scorn of the 
God who is in my city. 

I have attacked no man. 


I have not acted deceitfully. 

I have not uttered falsehood. 

I have not committed any sin 
against purity. 

I have not stirred up strife. 

I have not made light the measure. 

I have not added weights to the 
scales, nor misread the pointer. 


“THE CODE OF KHAMMURABI” 199 


BABYLONIAN. EGYPTIAN. 
Has he set up a false landmark, 
or refused to set up a true land- 


mark ? 
Has he removed bound, border, or _I have neither added to or stolen 
landmark ? land, or have I encroached on 


the field of others. 
Has he broken into his neigh- I have not robbed with violence. 
bour’s house? 
Has he drawn near hisneighbour’s I have not defiled the wife of a 


wife? man. 
Has he shed his neighbours I have done no murder, nor have 
blood ¢ I given order for murder to be 
done. 


Has he stolen his neighbour’s 
garment ? 


It will be seen from the above that, as regards civil 
law, there is a very general agreement between the two 
ethical systems. The code of Khammurabi was no new 
promulgation of laws; it was but another example of that 
policy of centralization which this great administrator had 
adopted, and so the whole of the laws, perhaps known 
only to those connected with the law courts, were now 
collected, arranged, and codified for the edification of the 
people. We have this in his own words— 

* he says, “the pastor, the saviour, whose 
sceptre is a right one, the good protecting shadow * over 
my city ; in my breast I cherish the inhabitants of Sumir 
and Akkad. By my genius in peace I have led them, 
by my wisdom I have directed them, that the strong 
might not injure the weak, to protect the widow and 
orphan. In Babylon, where Anu and Bel raise their high 
heads, in Bit Sagil, whose foundations are established as 
Heaven and Earth, to judge judgment in the land, to 
decide decisions in the land, to settle disputes, my precious 


“i am, 


* Compare Hebrew expression, ‘‘ Under the shadow of thy wings.” 


200 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


words on my stele I wrote, before my statue as King of 
Righteousness. 

“T am the king who ruleth over the kings of cities, the 
mighty one, my noble words in power have no equal. By 
the command of Samas, the great Judge of Heaven and 
Earth, let righteousness go forth in the land. By the 
decree of Merodach my lord, my sculpture which manifests 
the mercifulness of my face in E. Sagil which I love, let 
my name be favourably commemorated to all time. Let 
the oppressed who has a case at law come and stand 
before my image as King of Righteousness, let him read 
the inscription and understand my precious words. The 
inscribed stone will explain his case to him, and make 
clear the law to him, and his heart well pleased will say, 
‘Khammurabi is a master, who is as the father who begat 
his people!’ 

“In future time, hereafter let the king who may be in 
the land, the words of righteousness which I have written on 
my monument, may he observe ; the law of the land which 
I formulated, the edicts which I enacted, let him not alter ; 
and let him not injure my sculptures. 

“Tf such aruler (man) has reverence, and would rule his 
land aright, to the words which I have written in this 
inscription let him attend ; the rule, statute, and law of the 
land which I have given, the edicts which I have enacted, 
this inscription will reveal to him; let him rule his people, 
adjudge their case, and decide their decisions, and obliterate 
from his land litigant and defendant, and make his people 
happy.” 

It is evident, then, that this stele, on which the laws 
were inscribed, was set up in the great temple of Marduk 
in Babylon, to be accessible to all who had occasion to 
consult the courts which met there. The law courts, both 


“THE CODE OF KHAMMURABI” 201 


in the capital and in the minor cities, were held in the 
temples. Of this we have proof in many of the reports of 
law cases which have come down to us. The hall of 
judgment was called the “surznam,’ or Justice room, 
and here the Kar or Bench of Judges sat. There were 
always two judges in a case, and often more. Thus we 
read one tablet (285, 12, 711)— 

“Regarding the baggage ass which [Ilu-su-abu-su 
to Arad Bel and the leather merchant had given, the 
judges in the temple of the sun-god within the city of 
Sippur their case examined, and in the judgment hall of 
the sun-god the judges Arad Bel and the leather merchant 
to Ilu-su-abu-su they awarded it. In the judgment hall 
of the sun-god, in the old gate of the sun-god, Ilu-su-abu- 
su, son of Sin-Nazir, and Arad Bel and the leather mer- 
chant, bargained for six shekels of silver of the standard 
of Zaban, and ten shekels of silver of the standard of 
Sippar the greater, as regards the ass they took.” 

This tablet is dated in the reign of Apil-Sin (B.c. 2333), 
in the year when the fortress Dur-mute was built. 
Interesting light is thrown on the composition of the 
Babylonian law courts by a tablet which relates a suit as 
to the possession of a female slave, where we are told that 
the case was tried before the Radian of Sippar and the 
Kar or Bench of Sippara. From a valuable collection of 
letters of the Babylonian king Abesu, the grandson of 
Khammurabi, we gain further information as to these 
courts. The letter reads (III.) *— 

“ To Siniddinam and the Court of Sippar and the Judges 
of Sippar, thus saith Abesu, Bunenenazir and Mini-Samas 
have informed me saying, Ili-idinnam our brother has held 
us to bond. For two years we have laid the matter before 


* King’s “ Letters of Khammurabi,” p. 136. 
s » P 


202 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


the Court of Sippar, but they have not done us justice. 
After this manner they have informed me. On seeing this 
tablet, send to Babylon this Ili-idinnam and his witnesses 
who have knowledge of this case.” 

The Rabian was the president or master of the court, 
the word being cognate with the Hebrew Rabbi. There 
is a very interesting letter of Khammurabi’s in regard to 
one of these “ Masters of the Courts” (King, XVI.). The 
king writes— 

“The Rabian of the city of Medem has informed 
me concerning his bond. Now I am sending this 
Rabian of the city of Medem unto thee. Thou shalt 
examine into his case. Thou shalt send for the parties to 
his suit, and shalt cause them to bring him unto thee, and 
thou shalt ‘ give judgment according to the yoke.” 

Judgment according to the yoke was the Babylonian 
equivalent of penal servitude. In this case the money- 
lender had clearly brought himself under the thirty-eighth 
clause of the code, which forbids an official to pledge 
government property fora loan. The king had the right 
to revise all judgments on direct appeal to him, and 
the letters of Khammurabi and other kings of the 
First Dynasty of Babylon show that this was often done, 
as we shall see when we consider the letters in law cases 
which illustrate the clauses of this great code. 

The greatest care was taken to preserve the witness 
from undue influence, threats, and bribery (III., IV.), and 
this is illustrated very clearly by a letter of King Kham- 
murabi, ordering the despatch of certain men, who were 
concerned in a case, to Babylon. Here (King, viii. 8) the 
king orders seven men to be sent to Babylon, and says, 
“When thou shalt send them, thou shalt not send them 
together, but each man shalt thou despatch by himself.” 


“THE CODE OF KHAMMURABI” 203 


In another case (XLIII.), wherecertain men are to be sent, 
“Look to it,” the king says, “that they bring these men 
unto thee, and let a man whom thou canst trust take 
charge of them and bring them to Babylon.” 

As to bribery, it was very strongly deprecated by the 
king, as shown by one of his letters. He says, “ Bribery 
has taken place in Dur Gurgurri, and the man who took 
the bribe and the witnesses who had knowledge of these 
matters are here. On seeing this tablet, inquire regarding 
the matter, and if bribery has taken place, set a seal upon the 
money or whatever was offered as bribe, and cause it to be 
brought to me.” All the parties concerned in the case are 
then to be sent to Babylon. 

Next in importance to the purity of the courts, a very 
difficult matter in Oriental countries, we notice the great 
importance which the king attaches, throughout the code, 
to the “sanctity of an oath.” This is quite in accordance 
with the evidence afforded by the hundreds of contracts 
and legal documents which have been recovered from 
Babylon, Sippar, Nippur, and other cities. 

The oath by the name of God, literally Spirit of God, 
was so binding that it released men from legal obligations ; 
and every deed, even of the most trivial kind, is attested by 
oath. Usually the oath is by one or more gods, and by the 
name of the king; thus, “By the names of Samas Marduk 
and Apil-Sin they swore;” “Samas Marduk and Khammu- 
rabi ;” “Samas Ai (the bride) and Samsi-iluna they swore.” 
An interesting oath often found is that “ by Samas Marduk, 
the city of Sippar and the king they swore.” This oath 
reminds us of the forbidden oath by the city of Jerusalem 
(Matt. v. 34). In the list of offences in the “ Surpur tablets” 
we have perjury referred to: “ Has he said yea for nay, or 
has he said nay for yea?” 


204 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


The expressions by the “name of God” or “to account 
before God” clearly refer to the Babylonian belief that 
every man has a special patron god, as we read so often 
“of his god and his goddess.” These divinities stood 
in loco parentis to the man, and he was responsible to 
them for all his actions. Sin alienated them from him, 
and it was in penitence he went to them. Thus we read, 
“Ts his sin against his own god or his own goddess.” It 
is this conception which we find in the Arabic belief in the 
two recording angels, who write down the good and evil 
deeds a man does in life, and it forms the basis of the 
beautiful penitential psalms which are among the finest 
specimens of Babylonian literature. 

This belief in a man’s personal responsibility to his 
own god is curiously shown in some of the litanies where, 
at the end of the hymn, we have a formula reading, “ J. M., 
son of N., whose god is X., and whose goddess is Y., pray 
to thee.” And no doubt the Babylonian swore by the 
name of his own god to whom he was directly responsible. 

I now come to the most remarkable feature of the 
code. Based as it is on the principle of jus talzonzs, it is 
drastic to an extreme in the administration of the death 
penalty, no less than thirty-six crimes being punishable 
with death in one form or another. Many of the crimes, 
such as witchcraft, perjury, theft, especially sacrilege, 
kidnapping, house-breaking, and highway robbery, rape of 
a betrothed maiden, incest, or breach of Nazarite vow 
(sec. 110), adultery, conspiracy to murder, are punishable 
with death in the Hebrew and other codes, but many 
offences to which Babylonian law awarded this punishment 
seem very trivial for so severe a punishment. 

Buying from servants or slaves (sec. 7), taking or 
selling lost property (secs. 8 and 9), or vexatious claim for 


“THE CODE OF KHAMMURABI” 205 


lost property (sec. I1), inciting or harbouring slaves who 
escape (secs. 15-18), allowing riotous conduct in a wine- 
shop (sec. 109), or selling drink too cheap (sec. 110), and 
others, seem hardly to merit so severe a punishment. 

There is every probability that in most of the minor 
offences the sentence could be compounded with a fine. 
With such an array of capital crimes, it is curious to note 
that we have not, as far as I know, a single record of an 
execution. From what we know of the Babylonians, it is 
hardly likely that they possessed that cruel spirit which 
the Assyrians exhibited, whose annals abound in records of 
cruelty and bloodshed. It is interesting to notice some of 
the special punishments ; thus, conspiracy to kill a husband 
is punished by impalement, zva gasiSim tsakkannu-Sim 
(“ona stake they place her”). This death we often see 
represented in the Assyrian sculptures. 

The punishment of burning is awarded to a votary 
who breaks her vow by opening or entering a wine-shop. 
This may be partly due to the fact that the wine-shop was 
also a house of ill-fame. It was also awarded to incest 
between a man and his mother (sec. 157), and to one who 
committed a robbery during the confusion of a fire (sec. 
25). This punishment seems also to have been reserved 
for unfaithful wives in Egypt, for the wicked wife in the 
tale of Abana is burned on the north side of the temple. 
Drowning, too, is a punishment reserved for females for 
selling drink too cheap (sec. 109), for adultery (sec. 129), 
for a bad, negligent, and gad-about wife (sec. 143), and for 
one who leaves her husband’s house during his absence 
when duly provided for (sec. 133). 

It is not improbable that both burning and drowning 
were punishments, like the compulsory suicide in Egypt, 
or the Japanese “happy despatch,” which criminals were 


206 THE ‘FIRST OF EMPIRES 


compelled to perform, and which carried with it punish- 
ment in the next world as well as this. This mode of 
death in Egypt entailed in after-time the dreaded second 
death, which meant annihilation. 

Branding was inflicted for slander (sec. 127), and also, 
as we know from the code of family laws, for repudiation 
of parents by an adopted son. 

An examination of the text clearly shows that it was 
far from being a primitive code of laws; indeed, both the laws 
of Manu and the Teutonic laws present many more primi- 
tive traits. This is especially noticeable in the punishments 
where, with the exception of burning and mutilation, there 
is little that savours of savage life, and there are none of 
the extravagant and impossible punishments that figure in 
other codes. The punishments, too, were not administered 
by the offended person, but after due trial by a court. We 
must notice, too, that the punishments may be death, fine, 
or mutilation ; imprisonment was either too expensive, or, 
in many cases, impossible. The nearest approach is “the 
punishment of the yoke,” which compelled the offender to 
labour for the general good. One of the most remarkable 
features of the code is the appeal to the oath. “An oath is 
the end of strife.” Both in civil and criminal matters it is 
sufficient justification “to swear by the name of God,” or 
to declare (on oath) before God. In no other code is this 
extremely high estimate of the oath found. 

To examine some of the most remarkable features in 
detail, the most striking and unique element in this 
wonderful legislation is the high position and privileges 
accorded to women. Neither in the Aryan nor Hebrew 
codes is anything approaching it to be met with; the 
nearest affinities are to be met with in the Mohammedan 
codes. 


pte CODE OF KHAMMURBABL” 207 


To instance examples where the ancient and modern 
law are almost at one, we may notice the clauses (172-177) 
which relate to the rights of widows. Here the widow 
can claim as a son, and has also a legal right to reside in 
the home. If the husband had made a will (171), “ the wife 
takes the marriage portion and the settlements under the 
will, and is entitled to live in her husband’s house as long as 
she lives ; but for money she may not sell anything. After 
her it is her sons’.”, Under Mohammedan law the wife takes 
one-eighth where there are children, a fourth if there are 
none.* In the same way the mothers and widows durante 
viduitate have the right to the custody of the sons until 
they attain the age of seven years, and of daughters until 
they attain the age of puberty.f The mother’s right is 
forfeited by marrying a stranger, but reverts on again 
becoming a widow.{ A guardian is not at liberty to sell 
the immovable property of his ward. The Babylonian law 
applied also to movable property (177), “ but a utensil 
they shall not give for money.” Under the Babylonian 
law the widow loses her right of sole guardianship, but 
becomes joint trustee with her second husband for the 
children’s property. This is a refinement of civil law far 
ahead of any other code. 

So also in the case of divorce, the Babylonian code 
represents a high standard. As with Arabs, the divorce was 
by spoken formula—I put her away’’—not by a written 
deed, as in the Hebrew code (Deut. xxv. 1-4); while 
the husband must “ find some unseemly thing in her,” and, 
according to Babylonian law, he must also prove evil 


* Macnaghten’s ‘‘ Principles of Hindu and Mohammedan Law,” 
p- 154, No. 1. 
T Ibid., p. 222, Nos. 8, 9. 


208 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


conduct. Under Mohammedan law “the divorce could be 
without misbehaviour on her part, or without assigning a 
cause.” * One of the most interesting features of the code 
is the protection extended to sick wives. A husband might 
divorce a barren wife (138) by giving her her dowry and 
marriage portion, but a sick wife cannot be put away on 
account of her ill health ; thus clause 148 is one of the most 
just in the system: “If a man takes a wife, and a sickness 
seizes her, and he sets his face to take another wife, his 
wife who sickness has seized he may not put away ; in the 
house he has built she shall dwell; as long as she lives he 
shall provide for her.’ The sick wife had, however, the 
power to claim her divorce (149), and could return to her 
father's house with her dowry and wedding presents. 

The position of second wife is very clearly defined, as 
well as that of marriage with wife’s maid, such as we have 
in the case of Abraham and Hagar. These clauses are of 
special value, as they can be illustrated from actual deeds. 

The second wife could not claim equally with the first. 
Although we have no actual proof, it is more than probable 
that the Babylonian law did not allow more than two 
legitimate wives, but the marriage with female servants 
was certainly common. Among the tablets in the British 
Museum are two marriage contracts relating to the marriage 
of two sisters with one husband. Iam inclined to think 
from the wording of the deeds, that the sisterhood said to 
exist was of the nature of adoption or a half sisterhood. 

“Taram Sagila and Iltani, daughters of Sin-abu-su, 
Arad Samas to wifehood or husbandhood has taken them.” 

Niteiaram Sagila or Iltani to Arad Sin, their husband, 
shall say, ‘Thou art not my husband,’ then from the 
(obscure) he shall throw them ; but if Arad Sin to Taram 


* Macnaghten, of. cét., p. 218, No. 24. 


~ 


Sth CODE OF KHAMMURABL” 209 


Sagila or Iltani, his wives, shall say, ‘ Thou art not my wife,’ 
from house and goods she shall go out.” 

“ Tltani the seniority (sz) of Taram Sagila shall respect, 
her seat to the house of her god* she shall carry ; the food 
of Taram Sagila she shall provide; her welfare she shall 
regard, her deed she shall not destroy.” Here it is evident 
that the second wife was the servant of the first. In the 
second deed there is a curious clause. “The children, as 
many as have been born or they shall bear, are their 
(respective) children.” This clause was due to a clause of 
the code (167) which regulates the relative portion of the 
children of the two wives, where we read, “After the 
father has gone to his fate, the children according to their 
mothers shall not share; they shall take the marriage 
portion of their mothers, and divide the property of the 
paternal house equally.” In the second deed the repudia- 
tion by the husband entails a fine, “one mana of silver he 
shall pay.” This was probably the marriage portion. In 
another deed we read, “If the husband divorce her, one 
mana of silver he shall pay her.” The obscure passage, in- 
deed, one as to the punishment of the wives for repudiation, 
must mean some quay or place near the river, for we see 
from the code (143) the punishment was drowning. In the 
main the code is remarkable for the protection accorded to 
the wife, for, although the husband was the head of the 
family, he could not act with unlicensed powst, but must 
justify his acts, and her life and property were protected 
against him. In the clause (151) relating to individual 
debts of husband and wife, we have a curious forecast of 
the Married Women’s Property Act. 

Passing from the legitimate wife to the handmaid, we 
have some most interesting sections, and which show that, 


* Second deed reads, “ Half a mana of silver he shall pay.” 
P 


210 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


with regard to the position of this member of the Oriental 
household, there is a decided deterioration in the existing 
Moslem law. Under the Babylonian law the maidservant 
who had bore children to her master, although inferior to 
her mistress, could “not be sold for money ” (146), but still 
remained a servant. If, however, the husband recognized 
the offspring, they had a second claim in the division of the 
paternal property (170). Even if unrecognized, she obtained 
her freedom, and the sons of the wife could not claim 
service of her progeny. 

In Arabic law the position of the 27-2-walad (the slave 
who had borne children to her master) is much the same. 
“She is emancipated unconditionally on the death of her 
master.” But as to the marriage of slaves, we have a 
most astonishing difference from both Moslem and Aryan 
law. If a slave marries a daughter of a free man, the 
owner of the slave has no claim on the offspring ; they are 
ipso facto free. 

Under Mohammedan law slaves “cannot marry with- 
out the consent of their masters, or inherit or bequeath 
property.” A man cannot marry a female slave so long 
as he has a free wife; nor can he under any circum- 
stances marry his own slave girl, nor can a slave marry his 
mistress.* 

The special legislation for votaries attached to the 
temples are important, for we have already seen that the 
priestesses attached to the temples were a most important 
element in the Babylonian population. The marriage 
portion of these females was probably a sum or an amount 
of property set aside at the time when their dedication 
took place. 


* The Institutes of Manu are strongly opposed to such alliances. 
So also in Arab law. Macnaghten, of. cz¢., p. 227, No. 14. 


TABLET OF DOMESTIC LAWS. 


“THE CODE OF KHAMMURABI” 213 


A feature of Babylonian law which we do not find either 
in Arab or Hebrew legislation is the custom of adoption. 
This custom was very common among the Greeks and the 
Aryans of India. In the laws of Manu the adopted child 
is thus described: ‘He whom his father or mother, with 
her husband’s assent, gives to another as his son, provided 
the domo has no issue, if the boy be of the same class, and 
affectionately disposed, is considered as a son given, the 
gift being confirmed by pouring out water. He is con- 
sidered as a son made or adopted, whom a man takes as 
his own son.” * It would seem from clause 191 that in 
Babylonian, as in Indian law, the party adopting should 
be at the time destitute of ason. The laws of adoption 
are clearly set forth here: (1) a foundling child, (2) the 
child of living parents, (3) a child of some unfortunate, 
The system seems to have originated in the desire to retain 
property in the household, much on the same basis as 
the child marriages in England. The child had to be 
recognized, and by that he became a true member of the 
family (190), and given a deed of adoption, and could 
return to his father’s house if not so recognized. There 
are several of these deeds of adoption in the British and 
other museums. 

The child must be taught a trade. It is evident that 
absolute obedience to the foster parents was to be enforced. 
To the law of adopted children a well-known tablet of 
bilingual precepts of family life have generally been 
considered to apply; and as these precepts are fairly in 
agreement with the Code of Khammurabi, we may consider 
this to be correct— 

1. If a son to his father shall say, “ Thou art not my 


* Macnaghten, of citz., p. 68. 


214 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


father,” they brand him, an armlet place upon him, and for 
silver he may be sold.* 

2. If a son to his mother shall say, “ Thou art not my 
mother,” his manhood they brand, in the city debase him, 
and from the house they expel him. 

3. If a father to his son shall say, “Thou art not my 
son,” from house and dwelling he shall go. 

4. If a mother to her son shall say, “ Thou art not my 
son,” from house and property he shall go. 

We see that the father, if he repudiated his adopted son 
(191), had to give him one-third of his share. 

The power of a parent to disinherit his child was 
seriously controlled, and evidently intended to prohibit 
hasty action. Not only (167, 168) must the matter be 
decided by a judge, but time for reflection was given, as in 
the Moslem three times pronounced formula of divorce. 
“If he has committed a serious crime against his father, 
one which entails cutting off of sonship, the judge for the 
first time shall turn his face (overlook); but if he has 
committed a serious crime for the second time, the father 
shall cut his son off from sonship.” We do not know the 
exact offences which permitted disinheriting. Under the 
Moslem law slavery, homicide, difference of religion, ex- 
cluded from inheritance ; t but we may reasonably suppose 
also that serious violation of the family laws would entail 
banishment and expulsion—incest (154) with daughter or 
stepmother. 

The laws of assault are distinctly baséd on the /ex-Za- 
ions, but the Babylonian code makes a distinction between 
intentional and unintentional injury. Here we have a 

* From a tablet relating to a runaway slave (Bu. 91. 5. 9. 419), we 


know that the brand and the armlet was a sign of slavery. 
t Macnaghten, of. céz., p. 152, No. 6. 


“THE CODE OF KHAMMURABI” 215 


near agreement with the Hebrew legislation (Ex. xxili. 23- 
25 and xviii. 19), but the Babylonian law seems more severe 
where the punishment is carried to the next generation, as 
in the assault upon a woman (210), where the daughter of 
the assailant suffers; or in the case of a builder whose 
negligence has killed the owner of the house, where the 
life of his son is demanded as an equivalent (230). Here 
we notice the graduated scale of fines as in the Hebrew 
code. The responsibility of medical men for their patients’ 
recovery still exists in the East. The occurrence of the 
barber surgeon, as a quasi-medical man, is very ancient, 
for we find them mentioned in the list of trades in the stele 
of Manistu-su (B.C. 4500). They also officiated as medical 
men in Egypt, and do so to this day in many parts of the 
East. 

The responsibility of a builder for his work is not 
surprising in a land where so much building was carried 
out, but some interesting light is thrown upon these 
clauses in a tablet of rules as to a man’s social duties, 
where the description of building a house is given— 


“ He establishes for a dwelling his dwelling-house. 

Until the house is built, he prepares the beams and foundations. 

He gathers together the cut beams. 

He arranges in order the chief beams. 

He strengthens the old house (adjoining ?) with bricks, and sets up 
uprights. 

He puts a roof over the house he has planned. 

If the house is not constructed properly, he must set up supports. 

If a house is not set up as a proper house, he shall pay a fine of ten 
shekels of silver.” 


The fine here would be almost as much as he would 
get for building the house. The numerous contracts 
relating to the sale of house property which have come 
down to us show that there must have been a busy trade 


216 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


in them, both selling and letting. As an example, I quote 
the following :— 


“54 sar, a built house ; 

15 sar, courtyard ; 

In all, 205 sar domicile. 

Adjoining the house of Iddina Sin the weaver ; 

Adjoining the houses of Sin-murra and the house of ISme Sin, son of 
Nerra-eris ? 

Its front to the main street ; 

Its back to the houses of Sin-magir, son of Eribam, and Sin-eribam, 
son of Bel Sunu; 

Its exit is on the main street. 

From Nannar-iddina, son of Ilu-Su-bani, A8Sate Sama&, the priestess 
of Sama§, the daughter of Sin-tairi, 

For ring silver (ring money) has bought. ; 

Its full price 2 of a mana 2 shekels she has weighed. One with the 
other shall not dispute, shall not claim back, etc. By the names 
of Sama$ Marduk and Khammurabi and the city of Sippur they 
swore.” 


The use of ring money in Babylonia was like the ring 
money in Egypt, and especially used for small payments. 
The rent of houses does not appear to have been very 
high, as shown by some of the memoranda of agreement 
that have come down to us. 


(1) The house of Baka, from Baka, Sin-remeni, the son of Iu-ka- 
sin, for one year has hired. All the rent for the year is 4 (shekel) 10 se 
of silver. The first day of Kislev is the day of entry. 

(2) The house of Masku, from Masku, the builder of the house, has 
Akhi-bili for one year hired. The rent for the year is one shekel of 
silver ; the fifth day of Tamuz is the day of entry. 


The regulations as to shipping are such as we should 
expect from a people who had a large carrying trade over 
the rivers and canals of the Tigro-Euphrates valley. 

The laws as to property, and commercial transactions, 
are based on good sense and equity, except in one case 
(126), where the sanctity of the oath appears to be very 


PLhHaie CODE OF KIAMMURABI ” 217 


much strained. All the laws in regard to stolen or lost 
property are based on the production of bond fide proof of 
(1) the identity of the property, (2) the validity of the sale. 
An unusualiy wide margin, namely, six months, is allowed 
for the production of witnesses (13). 

The laws as to slaves show how valuable a property 
these were regarded. Though not mentioned in the code, 
the slaves appear in Babylonia to have been divided into 
the same divisions as under the Moslem law—of entire 
and qualified. The entire slave was one of slave descent, 
either from a captive in battle or their descendants. The 
qualified slave was one who had power to manumit him- 
self on payment of a certain sum, or who stood in such a 
position to his master that he obtained his freedom on the 
death of the latter. Inthe lists of legal terms this manu- 
mition is frequently mentioned, as well as the money 
payment. These slaves were often well educated, and 
most of them followed some trade, and they had power to 
- hold property, by the proceeds of which they could free 
themselves. An interesting tablet as to a fugitive slave 
has recently been published by Dr. T. G. Pinches, and it 
well illustrates the law (18)— 


“ Arad-bunene, of whom Tamkhi-ili was his master, for one and a half 
mana of silver to Asnuna gave him. 

Five years in the land of Asnuna he was held in service, thence to 
Babylonia he fled. 

Sin-muSalim and Marduk-nazir, who were over the workmen, recog- 
nized him, and said, ‘ Over thy armlet is a brand,’ thou must go 
before the palace servants. 

Arad-bunene then said thus, ‘ Before the palace servants I will not 
go, but on the affairs of my father’s house I will go.’” 


The fugitive slave’s brothers then appear and swear on 
oath by the names of Ammi-satana the king, and by 


218 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Marduk, “that he cannot be claimed for service” as 
long as he lives with his brothers and attends to the 
affairs of his father’s house. In the time of the later 
Babylonian Empire they attained to very high positions 
in their masters’ houses, and even in the service of the 
State. 

In the commercial law we see the same exactitude as 
to transactions. Accounts must be carefully kept, and 
vouchers, or sealed receipts, taken for everything. 

The dangerous state of the highways which the traders 
of Babylon had to traverse is shown in the clause relating 
to loss by robbery (103). The word used for agent in 
these clauses is a very interesting one. “Sagan-lal” is 
explained as “the man who carries the stone weights ” 
—aname which explains the expression in Prov. xvi. II, 
“ A just balance and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights 
of the bag are his work.” These agents were, no doubt, 
itinerant merchants or pedlars, who were entrusted with 
certain goods to sell, and who received a commission on - 
the sales. An example of one of these transactions is 
known to us. ‘“Adad-iddinam and Arad Martu made 
a partnership and went to Sippura, and in the gate of the 
Sun-god they returned the property and the capital they 
invested, and each took as much as he was entitled to and 
went his way.” These partnerships were then, as now, 
in Baghdad and other Eastern towns, made for a single 
venture or caravan journey, and then settled up at 
the end. 

The licensing laws call for little comment, except to 
notice that those who kept the wine shops, were females ; 
and hence, as I have already said, the character of the 
house was doubtful. 

The examination of the code which I have here made, 


“THE CODE OF KHAMMURABI” 219 


shows that it was no primitive system of legislation which 
Khammurabi codified, and that it was essentially based on 
common sense, equity, and justice ; all of which prove it 
to be the result of centuries of experience and gradual 
elimination of barbarous elements. 


CHAPTER” VTi 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 


CODE. 


WITCHCRAFT. 


and has not justified himself, he weaving the 
spell shall be put to death. 

II. If a man has placed an enchantment upon a man 
and has not justified himself, he upon whom the enchant- 
ment is placed to the holy river (Euphrates) shall go, 
into the holy river he shall plunge. If the holy river 
holds him (drowns), he who enchanted him shall take his 
house. 

(But) If the holy river makes that man to be innocent, 
and saves him, he who placed the enchantment upon him 
shall be put to death. He who plunged into the river, the 
house of him who enchanted him shall take. 


i | a man weave a spell, and put a ban upon a man, 


THREATENING WITNESSES. 


III. If a man during a law case shall utter threats 
against the witnesses, and has not justified the word he 
uttered, if that suit is one on which a life depends, that 
man shall die. 

220 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 221 


BRIBERY. 


IV. If he has sent corn or money to the witnesses, he 
shall himself bear the verdict of that case. 


FALSE JUDGMENT. 


V. If a judge has judged a judgment, or decided a 
decision, and granted a legal document, and afterwards 
his judgment is changed, for the alteration of the judg- 
ment he shall be held responsible. As regards that which 
was dependent upon the said judgment, twelve times the 
amount he shall pay. In the assembly from the judgment 
seat they shall cast him, and he shall not return; with the 
judges, in a judgment, he shall not take his seat. 


STOLEN PROPERTY. 


VI. Sacrilege—If a man the property of a god, temple, 
or palace has stolen, that man shall be put to death, and 
he who received the stolen property from his hand shall 
be put to death. 

VII. Receczving—If a man silver, gold, a male or 
female servant, ox, sheep, or ass, or anything whatsoever 
from the hands of a man’s son or from a man’s servant 
has bought, without witness or vouchers, or has taken on 
deposit, that man is a thief, he shall be put to death. 

VIII. Compensation.—If a man an ox, sheep, or ass, 
or pig, or boat, has stolen either from a god (temple) or 
a palace, he shall pay thirty-fold. If he is acommon man, 
he shall pay tenfold. 

If the thief has nothing to pay with, he shall be put to 
death. 


222 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Lost PROPERTY. 


IX. Claimed when sold—If a man has lost some 
property, and, the property he has lost in the hands of a 
man is seized, (and) the man in whose hands it is taken 
shall say, “A giver gave it to me,” or “In the presence 
of witnesses I beught it,” and the owner of the property 
shall say, “ Witnesses who know my lost property I can 
bring,” the buyer who bought, the giver who gave it, and 
the witnesses before whom he bought it, he shall bring. 
The judge their statements shall examine, and the wit- 
nesses before whom the purchases were made, and the 
witnesses knowing the lost property, their evidence before 
God shall repeat. 

If the seller has acted a thief, he shall be put to death. 

The owner of the lost property shall take his lost 
property, and the buyer from the house of the seller shall 
take the money he paid. 

X. “Failure to prove purchase.’—If a buyer has not 
produced the seller who sold it to him, or the witnesses 
before whom he bought (it), but the owner of the lost 
property has produced the witnesses identifying his pro- 
perty, the buyer has acted a thief, and shall be put to 
death, the owner of the lost property shall take his lost 
property. : 

XI. “ Failure to identify.’—If the owner of the lost 
property the witness to identify his lost property has not 
produced, he has lied; he has stirred up strife, he shall 
be put to death. 

XII. Death of Vendor.—lf the vendor has gone to his 
fate (died), the buyer from the house of the vendor five- 
fold the claim of that case shall take. 

XIII. Time to produce Witnesses—Ilf the man_ his 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 223 


witnesses has not to hand, the judge a fixed period up 
to six months, shall allow him, and if within six months 
his witnesses he does not compel to appear, that man has 
lied, and shall bear the onus of that case. 


CHILD STEALING. 


XIV. Ifa man has stolen the young child of a man, he 
shall be put to death. 


SLAVE STEALING. 


XV. If a man a male or female slave of the palace, or 
the male or female slave of a common man, has caused to 
go forth from the great gate, he shall be put to death. 

XVI. Harbouring a Slave-—lf a man a male or female 
slave who is lost from the palace, or one of a common 
man, in his house shall harbour, and on the demand of 
the commandant has not produced them, the owner of 
that house shall be put to death. 

XVII. Capture of a Fugitive Slave-—If a man a lost 
male or female slave, in the open country has captured, 
and to his owner has driven him back, the owner of that 
slave shall pay two shekels of silver. 

XVIII. Refusal of Owner's Name.—If that slave his 
owner’s name will not state, to the palace he shall drive 
him, concerning him they shall examine, and to his owner 
they shall restore him. 

XIX. Detention of a Slave—If one confines a slave in 
his house, and afterwards that slave is seized in his hands, 
that man shall be put to death. 

XX. Escape from Captor—lIf the slave from the hand 
of his captor has fled, that man to the owner of the slave 
by the name of God shall swear, and he shall be free. 


224 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


BURGLARY. 


XXI. If a man has broken into a house, in front of 
the said breach they shall kill him and bury him. 


ROBBERY. 


XXII. If a man has effected a robbery, and is taken, 
that man shall be put to death. 

XXIII. Local Compensation for Robber.—lf the robber 
has not been taken, his lost property, in the presence of 
God, the owner shall declare, and the city and the governor 
in whose land the robbery was effected, his lost property 
shall render back. 

XXIV. Compensation for Life—If it was a life, the 
city and the governor shall pay one mana of silver to his 
people (family). 

XXV. Theft at a Fire—If in a house of a man a fire 
has been kindled, and a man to extinguish the fire has 
come and has lifted his eyes to the property of the owner 
of the house, and taken the property of the owner of the 
house, that man into that fire shall be thrown. 


ROYAL ORDERS MUST BE EXECUTED IN PERSON. 


XXVI. If an officer or constable who on an errand of 
the king a journey has been sent, and he goes not, or a 
hireling he hires, and as his substitute sends him, that 
officer or constable shall be put to death, and his hireling 
take his house. 


OFFICERS’ PROPERTY MUST BE RETURNED. 


X XVII. If an officer or constable on the authority of 
the king is detained, and after him his field and his garden 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 225 


have been given to another, and the affairs he has managed, 
if he returns and regains his city, his field and his garden 
shall be returned to him, that he may manage his own 
affairs. 


SON TO MANAGE PROPERTY DURING ABSENCE. 


XXVIII. If an officer or constable, is detained on 
the authority of the king, and his son is able to manage 
his affairs, his field and garden shall be given to him, and 
the affairs of his father he shall manage. 

XXIX. Allowance to Mother.—If his son is young, and 
the affairs of his father he cannot manage, one-third of the 
field and garden shall be given to his mother, and his 
mother shall bring him up. 

XXX. Three Years Absence or Neglect forfeit Fref— 
If an officer or a constable has left alone his field, garden, 
or house from the beginning of his mission, and has 
allowed it to lie waste, and another after him has taken 
(them) and during three years has managed his affairs, if 
he returns, and his field, garden, or house would cultivate, 
they shall not give it to him; he who has taken it and 
managed his affairs, he shall manage it. 

XXXI. One Year's Absence does not void Fief—lf for 
one year only he has let it go to waste, and he shall return, 
they shall give him his field, garden, or house, and he shall 
manage his own affairs. 

XXXII. Offictal captured on Mission to be ransomed.— 
If an officer or constable on a mission of the king is 
detained, and a merchant has ransomed him, and to his 
own city has caused him to be brought (back),—if in his 
house for ransom there are (means), then himself he shall 
ransom; if in his house there are not means, from the 
temple of his city he shall be ransomed; if in the temple 


Q 


226 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


of his city for his ransom there are not means, the palace 
shall ransom him. His field, his garden, or his house shall 
not be given for his ransom. 

XXXIII. Governors or Magistrates not to employ Sub- 
stitutes.—If either a governor or a magistrate the men of 
the corvee (?) has taken to himself, or on the king’s business 
a hired substitute has taken and sent, that governor or 
magistrate shall be put to death. 

XXXIV. Property of Officers or Constables not to be 
seized.— If either a governor or magistrate the property 
of an officer has taken to himself, or has robbed an officer, 
or an officer given on hire, or an officer in the decision of 
a case has robbed, or the gift the king had given to an 
officer has taken to himself, that governor or magistrate 
shall be put to death. 

XXXV. Royal Gifts not to be sold—If a man has 
bought the oxen or sheep which the king has given to 
an officer, from the hand of the officer he shall be deprived 
of his money. 

XXXVI. The Property of Officials not to be sold—The 
field, garden, and house of an official, or a constable, or a 
tax-collector he shall not give for money. 

XXXVII. Such Purchase void—If a man the field, 
garden, or house of an officer, constable, or tax-collector 
has bought, his tablet shall be taken, and he shall be 
deprived of his money; the field, garden, or house he shall 
return to its owner. 

XXXVIII. Property of Officials not to be assigned — 
An officer, constable, or tax-collector a field, garden, or 
house of which he has management to his wife or his 
daughter shall not write off, and for a debt he shall not 
give (them). 

XXXIX. Own Property may be assigned.— But as 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 227 


regards a field, garden, or house which he has bought, 
and is in possession of, he may assign (them) to his wife 
or daughter, and for his debt he may give them. 

XL. Sale of Property —A votary, merchant, or foreign 
stranger he may sell his field, garden, or house for money, 
the purchaser the management of the field, garden, or 
house may exercise. 

XLI. Official Property not to be bartered—Ilf a man 
the field, garden, or house of an officer, constable, or tax- 
collector has bartered and given exchanges, the officer, 
constable, or tax-collector shall return to his field, garden, 
or house, and exchanges he shall keep. 


AGRICULTURAL LAWS. 


XLII. Land must be cultivated—lf a man a field for 
cultivation has taken, and has not caused corn to grow on 
the field, and has not performed the work on the field, he 
shall be called to account, and corn like his neighbour to 
the owner of the field he shall give. 

XLIII. If the field he has not cultivated and left fallow, 
corn like his neighbour to the master of the field he shall 
give, and the field he has left fallow with his hoes he shall 
break up and harrow, and to the owner of the field he 
shall return it. 

XLIV. Payment for reclaiming Land—If a man an 
unreclaimed field for three years to open up has taken and 
put it on one side and not opened it up, but in the fourth 
year he shall break it up with hoes, and hoe it and harrow 
it, to the owner of the field he shall measure out ten gur of 
corn for every ten feddan. 

XLV. Damage by Storm—If a man his field for rent 
to a farmer has given, and the rent of his field he has 


228 ' THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


received, and afterwards a thunderstorm has inundated 
the field or carried away the produce of the field, the loss 
is the farmer’s. 

XLVI. Rent to be paid at Harvest-time.—If his rent 
he has not received, and has given his field for a half or 
a third, the corn which is in the field the farmer and the 
owner of the field shall (divide) according to the terms of 
contract. 

XLVII. First Tenant responsible for Sub-tenant.—lf 
a farmer in the first year his tenancy has not taken up, 
and the field to cultivation has assigned, the owner of the 
field shall not condemn the farmer, and at the harvest- 
time he shall take corn according to his bonds. 

XLVIII. Loss by Storm free from Interest.—lf a man 
has a debt upon him, and a thunderstorm ravages his field 
or the produce carries away, or from lack of water the 
corn in the field has not grown, in that year corn to his 
creditor he shall not return, his tablet alter, and interest 
for that year he shall not pay. 

XLIX. Loans repaid at Harvest—lIf a man has taken 
money from a merchant, and a field planted with corn or 
sesame has given to the merchant, and has said to him, 
“Cultivate the field, reap and take for thyself the corn or 
sesame which there shall be,” if the farmer causes corn 
or sesame to grow in the field, at the time of harvest the 
said owner of the field shall take the corn or sesame which 
is in the field, and shall give corn for the money, and for 
the tenancy of the farmer to the merchant. 

L. Cultivated Land—lIf the field was cultivated, or the 
field of sesame was cultivated, when he gave it, the owner 
of the field shall take the corn or sesame which was in the 
field, and shall return the money and its interest to the 
merchant. 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 220 


LI. Lack of Means must pay by Royal Tariff—lf the 
money to repay he has not, the sesame, according to its 
market value, for his money and interest, which from the 
merchant he had taken, according to the tariff (fixed) by 
the king, to the merchant he shall give. 

LIT. Bonds hold good—Tf the farmer in the field, corn 
or sesame, has not caused to grow, his bond it shall not 
render void. 

LILI. Neglect of Irrigation Canals.—lf a man for his 
canal to strengthen its banks has neglected, has not made 
strong, or in its bank a breach has opened itself, and the 
waters the adjacent land have carried away, the man in 
whose bank the breach was opened the corn which was 
destroyed shall replace. 

LIV. Man and Goods to be sold for Compensation.—lf 
the corn to repay he cannot find, that man and his pro- 
perty they shall sell for money, and the farmers of the 
lands whose corn the waters have carried away shall 
divide it. 

LV. Damage from Irrigation Trench—Ilf a man his 
ditches for irrigation has opened and neglected them, and 
the field of his neighbour the waters have destroyed, corn 
equivalent he shall measure. 

LVI. Rate of Compensation.—If a man has opened the 
waters, and the produce of his neighbour’s land the waters 
have destroyed, ten gur of corn for each feddan he shall 
pay. 

LVII. Green Crops damaged by Sheep—lf a shepherd 
on the green crop has caused his sheep to feed, and with 
the owner of the field has not made terms, but without the 
consent of the owner of the field on the field has caused 
the sheep to feed, the owner shall reap the field, the 
shepherd who, without the consent of the owner of the 


230 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


field, on the field has caused his sheep to feed, over and 
above for each ten feddan twenty gur of corn he shall give. 

LVIII. Growing Crops damaged by Sheep.—lf from the 
time the sheep from the land have gone up and the whole 
flock by the gate have passed in, and the shepherd has 
put the sheep upon the field, and caused the sheep to feed 
off the field, the shepherd who has caused them to feed off 
the field shall be watched, and at harvest-time for each 
ten feddan of land sixty gur of corn he shall measure out. 

LIX. Damage to Fruit-trees—If a man, without the 
consent of the owner of a plantation, in the plantation 
of a man has cut down a tree, half a mana of silver he 
shall pay. 

LX. Five-year Lease of Garden.—lf a man has given 
a field to plant as a garden to a gardener, and the gar- 
dener has planted the garden, four years shall he rear 
the garden. In the fifth year the owner of the garden and 
the gardener equally shall share (it), and the owner of the 
garden shall cut off his portion and take it. 

LXI. Uncultivated Portion goes to Gardener—lf the 
gardener in planting all the field has not included, but a 
waste piece has left, the waste portion within his own 
portion he shall count. 

LXII. Compensation for Neglect of Cultivation.—lf the 
field which has been given him he has not planted as a 
garden, if it was corn land, to the owner of the field for 
each year in which it was neglected, the gardener to the 
owner of the field an amount (of corn) equal to his neigh- 
bour shall he measure out, and on the field the ordered 
work he shall do, and return to the owner of the field. 

LXIII. Neglect to reclaim Land.—If the field was 
unreclaimed land, he shall do the necessary work and 
return it to the owner of the field, and for each year he 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 220 


(the owner) shall measure out ten gur of corn for each 
ten feddan of land. 

LXIV. Garden Rent—If a man has given his garden to 
a gardener to cultivate, the gardener, as long as he holds 
the garden, from the produce of the garden to the owner 
of the garden two-thirds he shall give to the owner, and 
one-third take for himself. 

LXV. Neglect to cultivate Garden—If the gardener 
does not cultivate the garden, and the product diminishes, 
the gardener for the produce of his garden equivalent to 
that of his neighbour shall measure out. 


REVERSE. 
COMMERCIAL LAw. 


C. Rendering of Accounts—— . (Broken) . and the in- 
terests of the money, as much as he took, (the agent) 
shall write down, its days he shall reckon, and he shall 
account to his merchant. 

CI. Loss to be accounted for—tIf in the place he has 
gone to he has not encountered prosperity, the money he 
took he shall reckon up, and the agent to the merchant 
shall give (it). 

CII. Loss on Friendly Loan to be made up.—tlf a mer- 
chant to an agent money as a favour has given, and in the 
place to which he went loss he has encountered, the 
capital he shall return to the merchant. 

CIII. Robbery by Enemies.—If on the road (journey) in 
his mission the enemy the property he bore has caused 
him to lose, the agent, by the name of God, shall swear, 
and he shall quit. 

CIV. Receipts tc be given—If a merchant to an agent 


262 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


corn, wool, oil, or any kind of goods to trade with has 
given, the agent shall write down the money, and to the 
merchant he shall render, the agent a sealed (receipt) for 
the money he gave to the merchant shall take. 

CV. Voucher must be taken.—lf an agent has neglected, 
and for the money he has given the merchant a sealed 
receipt has not taken, the money not sealed (receipted) for 
he shall not place in his accounts. 

CVI. Disputed Accounts—If an agent money from a 
merchant has taken, and the. merchant has disputed it with 
him, that merchant, in the presence of God and witnesses as 
to the money taken, shall make the agent account. All 
he received threefold to the merchant he shall give. 

CVII. Faclure of Principals Claim—If a merchant 
has wronged an agent, and the agent whatsoever that 
merchant gave him to the merchant has returned, that 
agent, in the presence of God and witnesses, shall put that 
merchant to account, and the merchant, inasmuch as he 
disputed with the agent whatsoever he took, sixfold to the 
agent he shall give. 


LICENSING LAW. 


CVIII. Wene-sellers to abide by Corn Tariff—lf a 
wine-merchant (female) has not taken corn as the price of 
drink, but silver by the high standard has taken, and the 
price of drink has lowered below the corn tariff, that wine- 
merchant they shall call to account, and into the water 
they shall throw her. 

CIX. Rzotous Characters to be arrested—If a wine- 
merchant has allowed riotous characters to assemble in 
her house, and those riotous characters has not seized and 
driven them to the palace, that wine-merchant shall be put 
to death. 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 233 


CX. Votaries may not trade in Wine or frequent 
Wine-shops.—If a votary, or a woman of the temple, who 
does not reside in the sacred precincts, has opened a wine- 
shop, or has entered a wine-shop for drink, that woman 
they shall burn her. 

CXI. Credit for Drink.—lf a wine-merchant sixty 
quarts of best beer for thirst has given, at harvest-time 
fifty quarts of grain she shall take. 

CXII. Carriers’ Law.—If a man on a journey sets out, 
and gold, silver, stones, or any property in his posses- 
sion is given him to take for transport, and that man the 
property given him for transport to the place of transport 
delivers it not, but takes it to himself, the owner of the 
transported property that man, in regard to the trans- 
ported property which he delivered not, shall take to 
account, and that man fivefold the (value of) the property 
that was given him to the owner of the goods carried 
shall give. 

CXIII. Corn tn Bond protected.icIf a man has corn or 
money with a man, and without the consent of the owner 
of the corn has taken corn from the bin or from the store, 
that man, for taking the corn without the consent of the 
owner from the bin or store, shall be put to account, and 
corn as much as he has taken he shall return, and the 
amount of corn he gave he shall lose. 


LAWS OF DISTRAINT AND DEPOSIT. 


CXIV. Fine for Unjust Distraint.—lf a man not having 
corn or money upon a man levies a distraint, for each 
single distraint he shall pay half a mana of silver. 

CXV. Death of Debtor from Natural Causes —If a man 
having corn or money upon a man has levied a distraint, 


234 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


and the debtor in the house of the distrainer dies a 
natural death, there is no claim. 

CXVI. Death from Starvation or Violence —If a 
debtor has died in the house of the distrainer from blows or 
of starvation, the owner of the debt shall hold his agent 
responsible, and if the (deceased) was the son of a free- 
man, his son they shall slay ; if he was the slave of a free- 
man, he shall pay one-third of a mana of silver, and all 
he had given he shall lose. 

CXVII. Personal Security for Debt limited to Three 
Years—If a man has been seized for debt and his wife, 
his son, or his daughter to work off the debt has given, 
they shall labour for three years in the house of their 
buyer or holder; in the fourth year he shall establish their 
freedom. 

CXVIII. Slaves as Security may be sold—lf a man 
has given a man-servant or a maid-servant to work off a 
debt, and the merchant remove them and sell them for 
money, no one can object. 

CXIX. Female Slave may be ransomed.—lf a man has 
been seized for debt, and a female slave, who has borne 
him children, for the money he has given, the money the 
merchant gave him, if he pays, he sets his female slave 
free. 

CXX. Corn stored not to be touched.—If a man has 
heaped up corn for storage in the house of a man, and in 
the granary a disaster has happened, or the owner of the 
house has opened the granary and taken the corn, or as 
to the amount of corn which in his house was stored up 
has disputed, the owner of the corn, in the presence of God, 
shall account his corn, the owner of the house the corn 
which he took shall replace, and to the owner of the corn 


he shall give it. 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 235 


CXXI. Terms of Storage-—If a man has heaped up 
corn in the house of a man, he shall pay for each gur of 
corn stored five ka of corn per gur per annum. 

CXXII. Warehousing of Valuables: Deposit-note re- 
guired.—If a man to another man silver, gold, or any 
manner of property shall give for warehousing, all what- 
soever he gives he shall show to witnesses, and bonds he 
shall execute, and to warehousing he shall (give them). 

CXXIII. No claim without Deposit-note—If (he is) 
without witnesses or bonds of that which for warehousing 
he has given, and where he has given (them) they dispute 
him, that claim does not hold good. 

CXXIV. Loss on Deposit to be refunded.—Ilf a man 
has silver, gold, or any property placed to warehouse 
in the presence of witnesses, and the (receiver) shall 
dispute with him, he shall make him account, and what- 
soever he has disputed he shall make good and give to 
him. 

CXXV. Loss by King's Enemies.—lf a man has given 
any property to warehouse, and in the place where he 
gave it, by housebreaking or violence some of his property, 
along with the property of the owner of the house, (is 
lost), the owner of the house who has defaulted, all that 
was given him to warehouse and he has lost he shall make 
good, and to the owner of the goods he shall restore. The 
owner, whatsoever he has lost he shall seek out, and from 
the stealer he shall take. 

CXXVI. Oath sufficitent—If a man of his property has 
not lost, but has said he has lost property, or his deficiency 
has exaggerated, in regard to that which he has not lost, 
or his deficiency, in the presence of God he shall recount, 
and whatsoever he has claimed he shall receive, and to the 
deficiency credit it. 


230 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


LAWS RELATING TO WOMEN. 


CXXVII. Libel on Females —If a man, against a votary 
or the wife of a man, has caused the finger to be pointed 
and has not justified himself, that man before the judges 
they shall throw down, and shall brand him on the 
forehead. 

CXXVIII. Marriage Lines——If a man has married a 
wife and has not executed her deeds, that woman is no 
wife. 

CXXIX. Adultery —lIf the wife of a man with another 
in lying is taken, they shall bind them and throw them into 
the water ; but the owner of the wife may give her life, or 
the king may give life to his servant. 

CXXX. Rape of Betrothed Woman.—lf a man the 
wife of another man who has not known a male, and 
who abides in her father’s house, shall force and upon her 
breast shall lie, and be taken, that man shall die, and that 
woman she shall go free. 

CXXXI. False Accusation of Wife—Ilf the wife of a 
man her husband has accused her, and with another man 
in lying she has not been taken, by the name of God she 
shall swear, and to her house she shall return. 

CXXXII. Ordeal of Water for Scandal—lf the wife 
of a man has had the finger pointed at her in regard to 
another male, and in lying she has not been taken, for her 
husband into the holy river she shall plunge. 


DESERTION. 


CXXXIII. Captivity of Husband no Excuse.—lf a man 
has been taken prisoner, and in his house there are pro- 
visions (maintenance), and his wife has gone forth and 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 237, 


into the house of another has entered, and has not guarded 
her body, but has entered into the house of another, that 
woman they shall put to account, and into the water they 
shall throw her. 

CXXXIV. No Maintenance justifies Woman.—lf a 
man has been taken prisoner, and in his house there is no 
maintenance, and then his wife into the house of another 
has entered, that woman has no fault. 

CXXXV. Returned Captive can claim Wife—If a 
man has been taken prisoner, and in his house there is no 
maintenance before her, and his wife has entered into the 
house of another and borne children, and in after-time her 
husband has returned and regained his city, that woman 
shall return to her spouse, but the children shall follow 
the father. 

CXXXVI. Fugitive cannot claim Wzfe—If a man has 
quitted his city and fled, and after him his wife has 
entered into the house of another, if that man _ shall 
return, and has laid hold of his wife, because he departed 
from his city and fled, the wife of the fugitive to her 
husband shall not return. 


DIVORCE, ALIMONY, AND CUSTODY OF CHILDREN. 


CXXXVII. If a man his concubine, who has borne 
him children, or his wife who has given him children, has 
set his face to put away, to that woman her marriage 
portion he shall return, and the usufruct of field, garden, 
and goods he shall give her, and she shall rear her 
children. From the time her children are grown up, 
from whatever is given to her children a portion like 
that of one son they shall give her, and she may marry 
the husband of her choice. 


238 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


CXXXVIII. Divorce of Barren Wife—If aman would 
put away the spouse who has not borne him children, all 
the money of her dowry he shall pay her, and the marriage 
portion which she brought from her father’s house he shall 
make good to her, and he shall put her away. 

CXXXIX. [f no Dowry, Compensation —lIf there was 
no dowry, he shall give her one mana of silver. 

CXL. If a poor man, he shall give her one-third of a 
mana of silver. 

CXLI. Evil Conduct justifies Divorce-—lTf the wife of 
a man, who dwells in the house of that man, to go forth 
has set her face, and has acted the fool, and wasted his 
house, and impoverished her husband, they shall call her 
to account. If her husband shall say, “I put her away,” 
he shall put her away, and she shall go her way. For her 
divorce he shall give her nothing. If her husband shall 
say, “I do not put her away,” and he shall marry another 
woman, that woman shall dwell in the house of her hus- 
band as a maidservant. 

CXLII. “ Conjugal Rights.’—If a woman turns from 
her husband, and says, “Thou shalt not possess me,” in 
regard to her (and) what is her failing they shall inquire. 
If she is careful, and has no vice, and her husband has 
gone forth and greatly depreciated her, that woman has 
no blame; she shall take her marriage portion and go to 
her father’s house. 

CXLIII. & proved guilty, drowned—lIf she has not 
been careful, but has gone forth and his household 
property has wasted, and impoverishing him (husband), 
that woman into the waters they shall throw. 

CXLIV. Marriage with a Votary—If a man _ has 
married a votary, and that votary has given a female 
slave to her husband, who has brought children to that 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 239 


man, and that man to marry a concubine has set his face, 
that man shall not be permitted ; a concubine he shall 
not marry. 

CXLV. Position of Second Wife.—If a man marry a 
wife, and she bare him no children, and he set his face 
to take a second wife, if that man marries a second wife 
and causes her to enter the house, that second wife with 
the first wife shall not be allowed equality. 

CXLVI. Marriage with a Wifes Maid—If a man 
marries a wife, and she gives a female slave to her 
husband, and she bears children, and afterwards that 
woman with her mistress assumes equality, on account 
of the children she bore her master may not sell her 
for money ; a mark shall he put upon her, and with the 
female slaves count her. 

CXLVII. ff childless, can be sold—tf she has not 
borne children, her master can sell her for money. 

CXLVIII. Szck Wzfe-——If a man takes a wife, and 
a sickness seizes her, and he sets his face to take another 
wife, his wife whom sickness has seized he may not put 
away ; in the house he has built (home) she shall dwell, 
as long as she lives he shall provide for her, 

CXLIX. Sick Woman can divorce herself—lf that 
woman to abide in the house of her husband does not 
wish, the dowry which she brought from her father’s house 
he shall make good to her, and she can go her way. 

CL. If a man has given his wife a field, garden, or 
house, or property, and has deposited with her a sealed 
deed, and afterwards her husband or her children shall 
claim from her, that mother afterwards to her child whom 
she loves may give it, and to his brothers need give 
nothing. 

CLI. Husband or Wife responsible only for Individual 


240 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Debts.—If a woman dwelling in the house of a man, as 
regards the creditors of her husband, they cannot seize her 
for that which her husband has bound himself or deposited 
a deed. If that man before he married that woman had 
a debt upon him, his creditors cannot arrest his wife ; or 
if that woman before she entered that man’s house had 
a debt against her, her creditor cannot arrest her husband. 

CLII. Font Responsibility.—If after that woman 
entered the house of that man against them both there 
is a debt, jointly they shall pay the merchant. 

CLIII. Murder of Husband—tlf the wife of a man, 
on account of another man, has caused her husband to 
be killed, that woman on a stake they shall place her 
(impale). 

CLIV. If a man know his own daughter, from the city 
they shall expel that man. 

CLV. Incest with Daughter-in-law—lf a man has 
betrothed a bride to his son, and his son has known her, 
and afterwards he has slept on her breast, and been taken, 
that man they shall bind and cast into the waters. 

CLVI. Lucest with Daughter-in-law.lf a man has 
betrothed a bride to his son, and his son has not known 
her, and he has slept on her bosom, he shall pay her 
half a mana, and whatever she brought from her father’s 
house he shall make good to her, and a husband of her 
choice she shall marry. 

CLVII. Lucest with Mother.—If a man, after his father, 
in the bosom of his mother has slept, they shall burn 
them both together. 

CLVIII. Lucest with Stepmother—Ilf a man, after his 
father, in the bosom of her who brought him up, who has 
borne children, shall be caught, that man from the paternal 
house they shall cut off. 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 241 


MARRIAGE LAWS. 


CLIX. Breach of Promise—Ilf a man to the house 
of his father-in-law a present has caused to be brought, 
or has given a dowry, and then has looked with favour 
upon another woman, and has said to his father-in-law, 
“Thy daughter I shall not marry,” the father of that 
daughter shall take to himself whatsoever was brought. 

CLX. Engagement broken by Parent—If a man has 
caused a present to be brought to the house of his father- 
in-law, and given a dowry, and the father-in-law shall say, 
“My daughter I will not give thee,” whatever property 
was brought he shall account for and restore. 

CLXI. Broken Engagement by Scandal—tlf a man 
has caused a present to be brought to his father-in-law, 
and has given a dowry, and his friend has spoken calumny 
of him, and his father-in-law to the betrothed has said, 
“My daughter thou shalt not espouse,” all the property 
that was brought he shall account for and restore, but 
his friend shall not marry the (girl). 

CLXII. Deceased Wife's Property her Children’s.—If 
a man has married a wife and borne children, and that 
woman has gone to her fate (died), in regard to her 
marriage portion her father has no claim; her marriage 
portion is for her children. 

CLXII. Lf childless, Dowry returned to Father—lf 
a man has married a wife and she has not presented 
him with children, when she has gone to her fate, if her 
dowry which that man sent to the house of his father- 
in-law has been returned to him, in regard to the marriage 
portion of that woman her husband has no claim; her 
marriage portion belongs to her father’s house. 

CLXIV. Dowry to be deducted—If his father-in-law 

R 


242 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


has not returned him the dowry, he shall deduct the dowry 
from the marriage portion, and shall return her marriage 
portion to her father’s house. 

CLXV. Favourite Son’s Gifts——If a man to the son 
who is first in his eyes a field, garden, or house has given, 
and has a legal deed written him, afterwards when the 
father has gone to his fate, when the brothers divide, 
the present his father gave him he shall take, and in 
addition in the property of his father’s house he shall 
share equally. 

CLXVI. Bride-price for Youngest Son—If a man 
for the sons he possesses has taken wives, but for his 
youngest son has not taken a wife, and afterwards the 
father has gone to his fate, at the time when the brothers 
divide, from the property of the father’s house to their 
little brother who has not a wife, besides his portion, 
the money for a bride-price they shall assign to him, 
that he may take a wife. 

CLXVII. Children of Second Wife's Shave—lf a man 
has taken a wife, and she has borne him children, and 
that woman has gone to her fate, and afterwards to 
another woman he has married himself, and she has 
borne children also,—after the father has gone to his 
fate the children according to their mothers shall not 
share; they shall take the marriage portion of their 
mothers, and divide the property of the paternal house 
equally. 

CLXVIII. Disinheritance only by Legal Authority.— 
If a man has set his face to cut off his son, and to the 
judge has said, “I will cut off my son,” the judge regard- 
ing the matter shall inquire; if the son a great crime, 
which entails cutting off of sonship, has not committed, 
the father shall not cut off the sonship of his son. 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 243 


CLXIX. Jf proved guilty, disinherited.—If he has 
committed a serious crime against his father, one which 
entails cutting off of sonship, the judge for the first time 
shall turn his face (overlook); but if he has committed a 
serious crime for the second time, the father shall cut his 
son off from his sonship. 

CLXX. Children of Maid, if recognized, entitled to 
Share.—lf toa man his wife has borne children, and his 
maidservant also has borne him children, and the father 
in his lifetime to the children has said “My sons,” and 
with the sons of his wife has counted them, after the 
father has gone to his fate, in the property of the paternal 
house the sons of the wife and the sons of the maid- 
servant shall share equally, but the sons of the wife shall 
choose and take (first choice). 

CLXXI. [f unrecognized, shall not take Share, but be 
Sree with Life Interest—ITf the father in his lifetime to the 
sons which the maidservant bore him has not said “My 
sons,” after the father has gone to his fate, the sons of the 
maidservant shall not share in the property of the paternal 
house with the sons of the wife. They shall establish for 
the maidservant and her children freedom; the sons of 
the wife have no claim on the children of the maidservant 
for service. The wife shall take the marriage portion and 
the settlements which her husband gave her, and on tablet 
wrote for her, and in the dwelling of her husband she shall 
live, as long as she lives. For money she may not sell 
anything ; after her it is the sons’. 

CLXXII. Husband leaving no Will—If the husband 
gave her no settlement, they shall give her complete 
marriage portion, and she shall take of the property of 
her husband’s house a portion like one son. If her sons 
to leave the house would force her, the judge regarding 


244 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


this shall make inquiry, and then on the sons shall lay the 
blame, that woman from the house of her husband shall 
not go out. If, however, that woman has set her face to 
leave, the settlement which her husband gave her she shall 
deposit, the wedding portion from her father’s house she 
shall take, and she may marry the husband of her choice. 

CLXXIII. Future Children share Marriage Portion 
with First Famtly.—Ilf that woman in the place where she 
has entered to her late husband bare children, after that 
woman has died, the former and later children shall divide 
her wedding portion. 

CLXXIV. Childless Second Husband inherits —If she 
has not borne to her later husband, the sons of her spouse 
shall take the marriage portion. 

CLXXV. Marriage of Freewoman and Slave; Chil- 
dren free.—If a palace servant or the slave of a poor man 
has taken to wife the daughter of a freeman, the owner 
of the slave shall have no claim on the sons of the daughter 
of the freeman for service. 

CLXXVI. Marriage of Freewoman and Slave; Division 
of Property.—lf a palace servant or slave of a poor man 
take in marriage the daughter of a freeman, and with the 
share of the marriage portion of her father’s house she 
entered into the house of the palace servant or slave of a 
poor man, and from the time when they made a home 
and acquired property, after the palace servant or slave 
of a poor man to his fate has gone, the daughter of the 
freeman shall take her marriage portion, and whatever 
property her husband and she herself have acquired from 
the time they were together, she shall divide in two 
portions; the owner of the slave shall take one portion, 
the daughter of the freeman shall take the other half for 
her children. 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 245 


RE-MARRIAGE OF A WIDOW: CHILDREN WARDS IN 
CHANCERY. 


CLXXVII. If a widow, whose children are young, has 
set her face to enter the house of another, without the 
consent of a judge she may not enter. When she enters 
into the house of another, the judge regarding the house 
of her former husband shall inquire, the house of her 
former husband to her later husband and that woman 
he shall entrust, and cause them to deposit a deed, and 
the young children they shall bring up. But a utensil 
they shall not give for money ; the buyer who has bought 
a utensil of the widow’s children shall lose his money, and 
shall return the property to the owners. 


RIGHTS OF VOTARIES, ETC. 


CLXXVIII. Property of a Votary inalienable—lf a 
votary or a vowed woman (4zerata) whose father has 
granted her a marriage portion, and has written her a 
deed, and in the deed he has written her after her in 
regard to what is upon her, it is free to give, has not 
written, after her father has gone to his fate, her field or 
garden her brothers shall take, and, according to the value 
of her share, corn, oil, or wool shall give her and satisfy 
her heart. If her brothers according to her share corn, 
oil, or wool have not given her, and have not satisfied her 
heart, her field or garden to a farmer whosoever pleases 
her she shall give; her farmer shall provide for her. The 
field or garden, or whatsoever her father has given her, 
she shall enjoy as long as she lives. For money she 
shall not sell it; she shall not assign it to another; her 
sonship (right of inheritance) is her brothers’. 


246 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


CLXXIX. Property of a Votary: Power to dispose.— 
If a votary or a hierata, whose father has granted her a 
marriage portion, and has given her a written deed, and 
upon the tablet which he has written in regard to her that 
whatever she has she is free to give, and has allowed her 
all her choice, after the father has gone to his fate, in 
regard to whatever is good to her her brothers have no 
claim on her. 

CLXXX. Undowered Votary takes Son's Share.—lf a 
father to his daughter, a votary, a bride, or a hierata, has 
not given a marriage portion, after the father has gone to 
his fate, of the property of the paternal house a portion 
equivalent to one son shall share, as long as she lives she 
shall enjoy it ; after her it is her brothers’. 

CLXXXI. Vowed Woman's Share—If a father a 
vowed woman, or a hierodule, or a virgin, has dedicated 
to a god, and has not given her a marriage portion, after 
the father has gone to his fate, she shall share in the 
goods of her father’s house at the rate of one-third of a 
sonship share, and shall enjoy it as long as she lives; 
after her it is her brothers’. 

CLXXXII. Woman dedicated to Merodach free to act. 
—If a father to his daughter, who is dedicated to Mero- 
dach, has not granted a marriage portion, and has not 
written her a deed, after her father has gone to his fate, 
she shall share with her brothers in the property of the 
parental home, as one-third of a sonship’s share, and shall 
pay no tax; a votary of Merodach after her can bequeath 
as pleases her. 

CLXXXIII. Child of a Concubine, if dowered, no 
Claim.—If a man a child by a concubine has given a 
marriage portion, and has given her to a husband, and 
has written her a legal deed, after the father has gone to 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 247 


his fate, in the property of her father’s house she shall 
not share. 

CLXXXIV. Child of a Concubine can claim Dowry.— 
If a father to his daughter by a concubine has not granted 
a marriage portion, or has not provided her with a hus- 
band, after her father has gone to his fate, her brothers, 
according to the capacity of her father’s house, shall grant 
her a marriage portion and provide her with a husband. 


ADOPTION. 


CLXXXV. Adoption—lIf a man has taken a young 
child to his name, and to sonship, and brought him up, no 
one has any claim to that nursling. 

CLXXXVI. Adoption of Child of Living Parents.—If 
a man a young child to sonship has adopted, and after he 
has taken him he offend his foster father and mother, then 
his adopted son shall return to his father’s house. 

CLXXXVII. Adoption : Palace Child.—If a man adopt 
the son of a courtesan of the palace, or of a harlot, he 
cannot be demanded back. 

CLXXXVIII. Adopted Child to be taught Trade.—lVf an 
artisan has taken a child for rearing, and a trade for his 
hands has taught him, he cannot be demanded back. 

CLXXXIX. If he has not taught him a trade to his 
hands, this adopted child may return to his father’s house. 

CXC. Adopted Child must be recognized—tlf a man the 
young child he adopted and brought up does not estimate 
as with his own children, then that adopted child may 
return to his father’s house. 

CXCI. Adopted Child cannot be dismissed without 
Mceans.—If aman a young child has adopted to sonship 
and brought him up, and afterwards (that man) has 


248 THE FIRST OF ‘EMPIRES 


established a home, and had children (of his own), and 
after that wishes to cut off his adopted son, has set his 
face, that son shall not go his way. His adoptive father, 
of his wealth, one-third of a son’s portion shall give him ; 
field, garden, or house he shall not give him. 

CXCII. Adoption of Palace Child—If the son of a 
courtesan or a harlot to his adoptive father or mother 
shall say, “ You are not my father or mother,” his tongue 
they shall cut out. 

CXCIII. Palace Child cannot desert Adoptive Parents.— 
If the son of a courtesan or a harlot know his father’s 
house, and shall desert his adoptive father and mother and 
goes to his father’s house, his eye they shall tear out. 

CXCIV. Foster-mother may not substitute Child—lf a 
man give his son to a wet-nurse and the child die in her 
hands, but (then) without the knowledge of his father or his 
mother another child take to her breast, they shall convict 
her of having taken to her breast another child without 
the knowledge of its father or mother; her breasts they 
shall cut off. 


ASSAULT. 


CXCV. Assault on Father.—lf a man smite his father, 
his hands shall be cut off. 

CXCVI. Eye for an Eye.—If a man destroy the eye of 
a man, his eye they shall put out. 

CXCVII. Bone for Bone—Ilf he break the bone of 
another man, his bone they shall break. 

CXCVIII. Freed Man injured —lIf he put out the eye 
of a freed man, or break the bone of a freed man, he shall 
pay one mana of silver. 

CXCIX. /njury to a Slave.—If he put out the eye of 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 249 


the slave of a man, or break the bone of a man’s slave, he 
shall pay one-half its value. 

CC. Injury to Equal (lex talionis)—If a man knock 
out the teeth of one his equal, his teeth shall be knocked 
out. 

CCI. Lnjury to Freed Man.—lf he knock out the teeth 
of a freed man, he shall pay one-third of a silver mana. 

CCII. Assaulé Laws.—Ilf a man strike the head* of a 
man who is his superior, he shall receive sixty blows of an 
ox-hide whip in public. 

CCIII. If a free man strike the head of a free man 
equal to himself, he shall pay one mana of silver. 

CCIV. If a freed man strike the head of a freed man, 
he shall pay ten shekels of silver. 

CCV. If the slave of a freed man strike a freed man, 
his ear shall be cut off. 

CCVI. Unintentional Assault—If during a quarrel a 
man has struck another and a wound has inflicted, and he 
shall swear, “Intentionally, I did not strike him,” he shall 
pay the doctor. 

CCVII. Death of Injured Man.—lf (that man) of his 
assault dies, and he swears as above, if it was a free 
man, one half-mana of silver he shall pay. 

CCVIII. If it was a freed man, he shall pay one-third 
of a mana of silver. 

CCIX.—Assault on Females.—lf a man strike a free- 
born woman and she drop that which is in her womb, he 
shall pay ten shekels of silver for that which was in her 
womb. 

CCX. But if the woman die, his daughter shall be put 
to death. 

CCXI. If a woman of the freed class lose that which 


* Tet, “strength” ; here “ head or brain.” 


250 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


is in her womb by a blow, he shall pay five shekels of 
silver, 

CCXII. If the woman die, he shall pay half a mana of 
silver. 

CCXIII. Maidservant assaulted—lIf he strike the maid- 
servant of a man, and she drop that which is in her womb, 
he shall pay two shekels of silver. 

CCXIV. If that maidservant die, he shall pay one-third 
of a mana of silver. 


LAWS REGARDING DOCTORS. 


CCXV. If a doctor has made a large incision with a 
bronze lance and cured a man, or has opened the abscess 
(in the eye) with the lance, and saved the eye of the man, 
ten shekels of silver he shall take. 

CCXVI. If it was a freed man, five shekels of silver he 
takes. 

' CCXVII. If it was the slave of a freed man, the master 
of the slave shall give two shekels of silver to the doctor. 

CCXVIIT. Unsuccessful Treatment.—If a doctor has 
made a large incision with a bronze lance, and has caused 
the man to die, or opened an abscess with the lance, and 
has put out the eye, his hands shall be cut off. 

CCXIX. If the doctor make a large incision in the 
slave of a freed man and kill him, he shall render slave 
for slave. 

CCXX. If he has opened his abscess with a lance and 
put out his eye, money to half his price he shall pay. 

CCXXI.—Broken Limbs, ete—If a doctor heal the 
broken limb of a man, or cure a diseased bowel, the 
patient shall pay five shekels of silver to the doctor. 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 251 


CCXXII. If it was a freed man, he shall pay three 
shekels. 

CCXXIII. If he was a slave, the owner shall pay two 
shekels of silver. 

CCXXIV. Veterinary Surgeons.—lf a doctor of oxen 
or asses a large incision has made, and cured (them), the 
owner of the ox or ass shall give him one-sixth of a shekel 
as fee. 

CCXXvV. If a doctor make a large incision in an ox 
or ass, and cause it to die, he shall pay the owner one- 
fourth of its value. 

CCXXVI. Barber Surgeons.—lIf a barber surgeon, with- 
out the consent of the owner, the mark upon a slave not 
for sale has branded, the hands of the barber surgeon 
shall be cut off, 

CCXXVII. If any one deceive a barber surgeon, and 
cause him to brand a slave not for sale with the mark, 
he shall be put to death, and burned in his house. If 
the barber surgeon shall swear, “Knowingly I did not 
brand him,” he shall be free. 


BUILDING LAWS. 


CCXXVIII. If a builder builds a house for a man, 
and completes it, he shall pay two shekels of silver for 
each sar of surface. 

CCXXIX. If a builder build a house for a man, and 
has not made his work strong, and the house has fallen 
in and killed the owner of the house, then that builder 
shall be put to death. 

CCXXxX. If it kill the son of the owner of the house, 
the son of that builder they shall kill. 

CCXXXI. If it kill the slave of the owner of the 


252 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


house, a slave equivalent to that slave, to the owner of the 
house he shall give. 

CCXXXII. If the property of the owner of the house 
it destroys, whatsoever it destroys he shall make good; 
and as regards the house he built and it fell, with his own 
property he shall rebuild the ruined house. 

CCXXXIII. If he build a house for a man, and did 
not set his work, and the walls topple over, that builder 
from his own money shall make that wall strong. 


SHIP AND BOAT LAWS. 


CCXXXIV. If a shipwright a vessel of 60 gur has 
caulked for a man, two shekels of silver for his work he 
shall give him. 

CCXXXV. If a shipbuilder a ship for a man has 
built, and has not perfected his work, and in that year 
that ship is sent on a voyage, and it has shown faults, 
the boatbuilder that vessel shall take to pieces, and at his 
own expense make strong, and the strong ship he shall 
give to the owner. 

CCXXXVI. Hired Ships —Ilf a man has given his 
boat on hire to a man, and the boatman is careless and 
has grounded the ship, or it has been destroyed, the 
boatman shall repay ship for ship to the shipowner. 

CCXXXVII. Ship and Cargo lost.—If a man hire 
a boatman and a ship, and with corn, wool, oil, or dates, 
or anything whatsoever as freight it is freighted, and that 
boatman is careless, and the ship goes aground or is lost, 
that boatman the ship which went ashore and the cargo 
that was in her which was lost shall make good. 

CCXXXVIII. Shipwreck.—lIf a man has sunk the 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 253 


ship of another man, and has refloated her, money to one- 
half her price he shall pay. 

CCXXXIX. Aire of Boatman.—lf a man has hired 
a boatman, six gur of corn (48 bushels) he shall pay him 
per year. 

CCXL. Collision.—If a market-boat has struck a ferry- 
boat and sunk her, the owner of the boat that has been 
sunk, whatever he has lost in the ship, shall account before 
God, and he of the market-boat which sank the ferry-boat 
his boat and all that he lost shall make good to him. 


Ox COMMANDEERED. 


CCXLI. If a man commandeer an ox, he shall pay 
one-third of a mana of silver. 


HIRING. 


CCXLII. Hive of Plough Oxen.—lf a man plough 
oxen, he shall pay four gur (32 bushels) of corn for the 
year. 

CCXLIII. Hire of Milch Cattle.—If a man hire milch 
kine, he shall pay three gur of corn (24 bushels) to the 
owner. 

CCXLIV. Animal Slain by a Lion—If a man has 
hired an ox or an ass, and a lion kill it in the open field, 
the loss is the owner’s. 

CCXLV. Death by Neghgence or Cruelty.—If a man 
hire an ox, and by neglect or blows has caused it to die, 
ox for ox to the owner of the ox he shall render. 

CCXLVI. Lnjury to Animal—If a man hire an ox, 
and he break its leg or cuts the nape of the neck, ox for 
ox to the owner of the ox he shall render. 


254 THE FIRST. OF EMPIRES 


CCXLVII. Ox blinded.—If a man hire an ox, and he 
puts out its eye, he shall pay to the owner of the ox one- 
half its value. 

CCXLVIII. Lyjury to Horn, Tail, etc—Ilf a man hire 
an ox, and breaks its horn, cuts its tail, or cuts its nostril, 
one-fourth of its price to the owner he shall pay. 

CCXLIX. “ Death by Act of God.’—If a man hire an 
ox, and God has smitten it and it has died, the man who 
hired it shall swear by the name of God, and shall go free. 

CCL. Accidental Goring.—lIf a bull in his course has 
gored a man, and caused him to die, there is no crime in 
that case. 

CCLI. “ Knowledge of Goring.’—If the ox has pushed 
a man, and by pushing has made known his vice, and his 
horn has not been blunted, or the ox has not been chained 
up, and the ox gore a freeborn man, and kill him, half a 
shekel of silver he shall pay. 

CCLII. Lnjury to Servant.—lIf the servant of a freeman 
(is injured), one-third of a mana of silver he shall pay. 


“LAWS OF TENANCY.” 


CCLIII. Metayer System of Lease—If a man has hired 
another to reside on his field, and corn and plants and a 
yoke of oxen to cultivate the field has entrusted to him, 
if that man steal the corn or the plants and to his own 
possession has taken, his hand shall be cut off. 

CCLIV. Stealing Seed, etc.—If he has taken the seed- 
corn and neglected the yoke of oxen, for the seed-corn 
he shall make good. 

CCLV. Appropriation to own Use, and Neglect—lIf he 
has given the yoke of oxen to hire, and stolen the seed- 
corn, and has not caused it to grow in the field, that man 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 255 


shall be called to account, and he shall pay sixty gur of 
corn for each 100 feddan of land. 

CCLVI. Hard Labour for Non-payment.—lf his 
governor cannot raise the compensation, in that field with 
the yoke of oxen he shall be put to work. 

CCLVII. Azreof Harvester.—If a man hire a harvester, 
he shall give him eight gur (64 bushels) of corn for the 
year. 

CCLVIII. Aire of Ox-driver—tIlf a man hire an ox- 
driver, six gur (48 bushels) of corn he shall give him for 
the year. 

CCLIX. Theft of Shaddoof—Ilf a man shall steal a 
shaddoof from the land, five shekels of silver to the owner 
of the shaddoof he shall pay. 

CCLX. Thfet of Bucket or Plough—\f a man steal a 
water-bucket or a plough, three shekels of silver he shall 
pay. 

CCLXI. Hire of Herdsman or Shepherd—\f a man 
hire a herdsman for the cattle, or for sheep a shepherd, 
eight gur (64 bushels) of corn for the year he shall 
pay. 

CCLXII. (Broken). 

CCLXIII. Loss of Cattle—If a man an ox or sheep 
which has been entrusted to him shall lose, ox for ox and 
sheep for sheep to their master he shall make good. 

CCLXIV. Losses to be made good.—If a herdsman, 
who has had oxen or sheep given him to tend, and who 
has received his wages, and his heart is satisfied, has 
diminished the oxen or sheep, or lessened the offspring, 
according to the terms of his bond, offspring and increase 
he shall give. 

CCLXV. Fraudulent Returns.—If a shepherd to whom 
oxen or sheep have been given to tend has falsified and 


256 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


changed their value, or sold for money, that one shall be 
called to account, and he shall make good to owner ten 
times the loss. 

CCLXVI. Loss by Lions or Accident.—lf in the bond 
an act of God has taken place, or a lion kill (an animal), 
the shepherd, before God, shall declare his innocence, and 
the accident to the fold the owner must face it. 

CCLXVII. Loss by Negligence ——lIf the shepherd has 
been negligent, and in the fold an accident happen, the 
shepherd is at fault for the accident which happened in 
the fold to oxen and sheep; he shall make good, and give 
to their master. 

CCLXVIII. Hire of Threshing-ox.—lf a man hire an 
ox for threshing, twenty £a of corn is the price. 

CCLXIX. Hire of Ass—If a man hire an ass for 
threshing, ten £a of corn is the price. 

CCLXX. Aire of Young Animal.—lIf a man hire a 
young animal for threshing, its hire is ten £a of corn. 

CCLXXI. Oxen, Cart, and Driver Hire—If a man hire 
a yoke of oxen, a cart, and driver, he shall pay 180 ka of 
corn per day. 

CCLXXII. Hire of Cart only—If a man hire a cart 
only, he shall pay forty £a of corn per day. 

CCLXXIII. Day Labourer's Hive—If a man hire a 
day labourer, from the beginning of the year until the fifth 
month he shall give six SE of silver per day, from the 
fifth month to the end of the year he shall give five SE of 
silver per day. 

CCLXXIV. Hire of Artisan Labour.—If any one hire 
an artisan he shall pay— 

1. Fora... he shall pay 5 SE of silver. 
2. For a brick-maker he shall pay 5 SE of silver. 
3. For a weaver he shall pay 5 SE of silver. 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 267 


Hora we. me shallipay’ 5s) i”. 

Hora =. belshall pay... 

Bona % 

For a carpenter, 4 SE of silver he shall pay. 
For a ropemaker, 4 SE of silver he shall pay. 


ONAKE 


Dn for a builder 

CCLXXV. Hire of Boat—If a man hire a boat, his 
hire per day is 3 SE of silver. 

CCLXXVI. Aire of Market-boat—Ilf a man hire a 
market-boat, he shall pay 2} SE per day. 
re CCLXXVII. Hire of Ship—-Ilf a man hire a ship of 
60 gur (480 bushels), for each day he shall pay one-sixth 
of a shekel. 

CCLXXVIII. Sickness of Servant.—lf a man has 
purchased a male or female servant, and before he has 
completed his month (trial) the dexnw disease has smitten 
him, to the seller he shall return him, and the purchaser 
the money he paid he shall receive. 

CCLXXIX. Claim by Third Party—If a man has 
purchased a male or female slave, and one (a third party) 
makes a claim, the vendor must satisfy the claim. 

CCLXXX. Slave purchased Abroad.—lf a man has 
purchased, while in a foreign land, a male or female slave 
from another, and when he has arrived (within his own) 
land the owner of the male or female slave has identified 
his male or female slave, if the male or female slave 
be a native of the land, without price he shall grant, 
release them. 

CCLXXXI. Jf Foreigners.—If, however, they are 
natives of another land, the purchaser, in the presence of 
God, shall declare the money he paid, and the owner of 

Ss 


258 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


the male or female slave shall give to the merchant the 
money he paid, and keep his male or female slave. 

CCLXXXII. Repudiation of Owner.—If a slave say 
to his master, “ Thou art not my master,” as his servant 
he shall charge him, and (then) his master may cut off 
his ear. 


EPILOGUE. 


The laws of righteousness which Khammurabi the 
mighty king had established, and whereby he caused the 
land to learn a pious law and firm statute. 

“Khammurabi, the benefactor king, I am he. From 
the people whom Bel entrusted to me to rule them, and 
whom Marduk gave me, I did not withdraw myself; I 
was not one who turned away himself. I made for them 
a peaceful resting-place ; I madeclear their difficulties, and 
enlightened them. With mighty weapons, which Zamana 
and Istar conferred upon me, with the clear intelligence 
with which Ea endowed me, with the power which Marduk 
gave me, the foes above and below (north and south) I 
swept away, and subdued the land, and the state of the 
land I made happy, and caused the people in their dwell- 
ings to rest in security, and a disturber existed not. 

“T am he whom the great gods proclaimed. I am 
the salvation-giving shepherd, whose sceptre is a right 
sceptre (Ps. xlv. 6), the beneficent shadow which over- 
spreads my city; on my heart I fold the people of 
Sumir and Akkad ; in my spirit let them repose in peace. 
By my deep wisdom I directed them, so that the strong 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 259 


should not injure the weak, and to protect the widows and 
orphans (Ex. xxii. 22; Deut. x. 18). 

“In Babylon, the city where Marduk and Bel raise 
their heads, in E. Saggil, the temple of which its founda- 
tion is firm as heaven or earth, to guide judgment in the 
land, and to enact edicts in the land, and to make straight 
wrong, my precious words upon my stele I wrote, and 
before my statute as King of Righteousness, I placed it. 
The king who rules among the kings of cities, I am he. 
My words are precious; my power has no equal. By 
command of Samas, the great judge of heaven and earth, 
let righteousness be glorified in the land ; by the decree of 
Marduk my lord, my sculptures. 

“Tn E. Saggil, which I love, let my name be favourably 
mentioned unto all time. The oppressed one who has 
a case at law, before my statute as King of Righteousness 
let him come, and my inscribed stele let him read, and 
ponder on my precious words; my stele shall make his 
case clear to him; his right he will see, and his heart will 
be glad. (Then shall he say) Khammurabi is a master 
who is like unto a father who begat his people, who is 
attentive to the words of Marduk his lord, who has 
achieved triumph above and below for Marduk, and made 
joyful the heart of Marduk his lord, and prosperity to all 
time has conferred on his subjects, and has established 
justice in the land. 

“ Let him say in the presence of Marduk my lord, and 
Zirat-panit my lady, with full heart let him draw near in 
prayer; then shall the protecting genii and the gods who 
enter E. Saggil regard with favour the designs which each 
day before Marduk my lord and Zirat-panit my lady are 
presented. 

“In future time and days to come, the king who shall 


260 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


be in the land, the righteous words which upon my stele 
I have written may he observe; the law I adjudged the 
land, the edicts I enacted for the people, let him not 
change ; and my sculptures let him not obliterate. 

“Tf that man possesses reverence, and rules his land 
aright, let him attend to the words which upon my stele 
I wrote. The rule, statute, and the law of the land which 
I have given, the edicts I have enacted for the land, this 
stele shall reveal to him, that he may direct the people 
(blackheads), that he may adjudge their laws and enact 
their edicts, and from his land obliterate plaintiff and 
defendant, and make his people happy. 

“I am Khammurabi, the righteous king on whom 
Samas has conferred law. My words are precious; my 
actions have no equal to bring low the exalted, to humble 
the proud, and drive out insolence. If that man attends to 
my words which I have written on my stele, and annuls 
not my law, nor changes my words, nor injures my 
sculpture, like unto myself may Samas prolong his reign 
as King of Righteousness, and may he guide his people in 
justice. 

“If that man my words which upon my stele I wrote 
attends not to, and the curses he forgets and the curse of 
God he fears not, and the law I gave he destroys, my words 
he changes, and injures my sculptures, the writing of my 
name erases, and writes his own name; or as regards 
those curses another causes to act, that man, whether he 
be king, lord, or viceroy, or any man, whatever he be 
called, may the great God, the father of the gods who 
proclaimed my reign, may he take from him the splendour 
of sovereignty, and break his sceptre, and curse his 
destiny. 

“Bel, the lord who casteth destiny, whose command 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” oie 


cannot be changed, who has made my kingdom great, 
order a rebellion which his hand cannot control ; devasta- 
tion against his throne may he pour out ; a reign of misery, 
days of scarcity, years of famine, deep darkness without 
light, and death with seeing eyes, as his fate may he award 
him. The destruction of his city, the dispersion of his 
people, the cutting off of his rule, and the obliteration of 
his name and his memorial, may he declare. 

“May Belit, the great mother, whose command is great 
in E. Kur, the lady who favours my petitions, in the place 
of judgment and decision, in the presence of Bel, make 
his commands nil, and sweep with destruction his land, and 
destroy his people, and pour out his life like water. This, 
by the word of Bel the king, may it be established. 

“Ea, the mighty prince, whose decrees of destiny are 
predestined, the adviser of the gods, who knoweth all 
things, who prolongeth the days of my life, turn under- 
standing and wisdom from him, and lead him to forgetful- 
ness, and cut off his rivers at their fountain-heads, and in 
his land the corn-god the sustenance of his people not 
produce. 

“Samas, the great judge of heaven and earth, who 
directs the affairs of life, the lord of confidence, shatter his 
sovereignty and annul his law, and destroy his way, and 
bring to naught the march of his hosts. 

“Tn his visions may there be for him evil omens of the 
destruction of the throne of his sovereignty and the ruin 
of his land. May the evil decree of Samas swiftly seize 
him here above in life and below in the earth; may his 
soul be deprived of water. 

“Sun, the lord of heaven, the divine creator, whose 
rays give light unto the gods, the crown and throne of his 
sovereignty cut off; heavy sin and great wickedness which 


NO 


62 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


from his body none can eradicate. Each day, month by 
month, may the years of his reign be filled with sighing 
and tears; as a burden may his royalty increase to him; a 
life that joined unto death as his fate may he award him. 

“ Adad, the lord of fertility, the proprietor of heaven 
and earth, my supporter, the rain from heaven, the floods 
in spring withhold and destroy his land with want and 
famine ; may he rage in anger over his city, and turn his 
land to deluge heaps. 

“The god Zamama, the great warrior, the firstborn son 
of E. Kur, who goeth on my right hand, break his weapons 
on the battlefield; may he turn day into night for him, 
and exalt his enemy over him. 

“May Istar, the lady of war and battle, who draws my 
weapons, my gracious guardian spirit, who loves my rule, 
in her angry heart and great rage may she curse his 
kingdom, and change his good fortune to evil. On field of 
war and battle may she break his weapons ; may she create 
trouble and rebellion for him, strike down his warriors, so 
that the earth drinks their blood, and heaps of the corpses 
of his army on the field may she heap up ; may his soldiers 
never have graves ! 

“That one may she deliver him into the hand of 
his enemy, and to the land of his foe as a prisoner may 
he go. 

“May Nergal, the strong one among the gods, the one 
whose warring is unrivalled, who accompanied my triumph, 
in his great might, like a raging fire of reeds burn up his 
people; with his mighty weapons cut off his limbs, and 
break him in pieces like an image of clay. May Niu Tu, 
the noble lady of the lands, the creatress, deny him a son, 
and never preserve a name to him, and among his people 
a descendant may he not beget. 


“LAWS OF KHAMMURABI” 263 


“Nin Karrak, the daughter of Anu, who is herald of my 
good favour in E. Kur, a great disease and evil fever, 
severe wounds which cannot be healed, and no physician 
within his land knows, and no bandage can remove, 
and which like the kiss of death cannot be wiped off until 
his life is poured out. 

“For his virility may he weep, and the great gods of 
heaven and earth and the assembled Annunaki.... 
That one his rule, his land, his soldiers, his people, and his 
troops, with a terrible curse may they curse. With potent 
curses may Bel, whose command changes not, curse him. 
and quickly may they seize him.” 


CHAPTER Wx 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 


scribes, but it differed from the sister civilization 

in one important respect. In Egypt the scribe, 
or educated man, was essentially an official, and it is very 
doubtful, indeed, if the general body of the people were 
able to read or write. In Babylonia, to write, and con- 
sequently to read, was a duty imposed on all except the 
lowest classes of the people. Among the duties imposed 
upon the parent was that of having his son taught to write ; 
and ample proof is afforded that there were regular schools 
and colleges attached to most of the temples in Babylonia— 
certainly at Borsippa, Nippur, and Larsa. Another proof 
that the majority of the Babylonian people possessed some 
of the elements of education is afforded by the large 
number of contracts, letters, memoranda, and even jottings 
which have been discovered, and the variety of hand- 
writings they exhibit. 

Turning to the traditions preserved by Berosus, we 
see how this Greco-Chaldean priest-scribe emphasizes the 
continuity of literary tradition and record in Chaldea. 
Oannes (Ea) taught men the art of letters, and prior to 
the deluge the god Bel appeared to Xisuthrus and ordered 


him to bury all ancient records in Sippara. These records 
264 


Bets tee like ancient Egypt, was a land of 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 265 


were dug up after the deliverance, and so the literary 
tradition was preserved. 

The selection of Sippara, “ Pantabiblos,” the book city, 
as the Greek writer calls it, is probably due to the fact that 
the writer confused Sippara with Sepher, “a book.” 

So essentially was a literary age associated with pros- 
perity in Chaldea, that the writer of a curious poem 
describes a period of confusion and anarchy in the land 
by the words, “Ona tablet nought was written; nought 
was there left to record.” 

All doubt as to the literary character of the ancient 
inhabitants of Chaldea is now removed, and the result has 
far exceeded the wildest dreams of Orientalists. 

At the beginning of the last century what a by-word 
was the East. The iconoclastic school of Niebuhr on 
the Continent, and Sir George Cornwall Lewis in this 
country, had wrecked the foundations of all that constituted 
the beginnings of history and culture. The gods had not 
fought together with men on the plains of Troy, hence all 
that was chronicled in Homer was myth and fiction, with 
no substratum of historic fact. The culture and civilization 
of Troy and Mykene, described by the Hellenic bard, 
were but figments of the poet’s brain. There was to this 
school nothing trustworthy regarding Greece before the 
age of Thucydides. 

If the traditions of the classic nations were thus 
ruthlessly dethroned, how little consideration could be ex- 
tended to the dark, mysterious East, the home of myth 
and fable. The scepticism of Voltaire and others had 
made laughing-stock of Hebrew traditions, and above all 
was the deeply engrained doctrine that the East was an 
unlettered land ; and how could nations who had no writing 
possess a literature? Even if such should happen to be the 


266 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


case, what credence could be attached to the products of 
minds not trained according to classic canons? 

True, it must be said, that the literary products of the 
East merited but scant confidence, being such works as 
the “Shah-Nameh,” or the “Arabian Nights.” An age 
that accepted the reading of a Ptolemaic inscription on 
the walls of Denderah, as representing the Hundredth 
Psalm, or an inscription of Senefru on the rocks of 
Sinai, as a record of the feeding of the Hebrews 
with quails, was hardly qualified to judge of Oriental 
literature. 

How different is the picture now. The magic touch of 
the spade has rescued from the grave-mounds of buried 
cities, from temple, tomb, and pyramid, the monuments of 
a past extending far beyond the age of Homer or Moses. 
Schliemann has proved the reality of the Golden Age of 
Troy and Mykenz; while from the palace of Knossos 
Dr. Arthur Evans has brought the memorials of the age of 
Minos and his Minotaur, and solved the mysteries of the 
Kretan labyrinth. 

If archeology has thus triumphed in proving the 
antiquity of Hellenic and pre-Hellenic civilization, what 
has it done for the much maligned East ? 

To speak of the East as unlettered is, indeed, an error, 
From the dark mounds of Assyria and Chaldea the ex- 
plorer has brought forth the memorials, not of a few mighty 
rulers, or the votive inscriptions of some single temple, 
but the history of long-forgotten empires, the chronicles of 
kings, the legal codes of the oldest courts, the private 
papers of the people, and the contents of libraries older 
by many centuries than the age of Abram. It is not the 
literature of the lettered few, the initiated, that comes to us 
in these strange clay tablets—it tells of the affairs of men, 


U 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 267 


from the king on his throne to the beggar in the street. 
It embraces within its scope the bill of a Chaldean trades- 
man, or classics which constitute the first editions of the 


DEMONS FIGHTING. 


cosmogonies of Moses or Hesiod, or the tales of Greek 
mythology. 

Speaking generally, the Babylonians were far more a 
literary people than the Egyptians. The literature of Egypt 
was essentially religious, the major part of it embodied in 


r 


268 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


works associated with the Book of the Dead or with temple 
ritual; and only some few specimens of fiction, some love 
poems, and a considerable amount of moral literature in 
the form of aphorisms, belong to the class of secular litera- 
ture. Unlike the Babylonians, the Egyptians had no 
national epic, or, indeed, any cycle poems. Their magical 
literature was so esoteric that it lacked any literary merits, 
while that of Babylonia often is extremely poetic. 

The earliest literature of Chaldea, like most other 
elements in Babylonian literature, was of Sumerian origin ; 
and this is especially the case with the magical and 
scientific literature and much of the hymnology, but by 
no means so large a quantity as some writers would have 
us believe. 

The religion of the Sumerians was a form of Animism, 
and a belief that all objects in nature were the abodes of 
spiritual forms, which could only be controlled by invoking 
the aid of the more powerful spirits, such as the dominant 
spirits of Heaven and Earth. For sucha creed the natural 
priesthood would be magicians, who knew the spells and 
exorcisms that would compel the spirits to obey. These 
spells would be gradually embodied in the form of magical 
litanies, and form a regular liturgy of magic. The chief 
centre of this learning was the ancient city of Eridu, and the 
spells of that city and the incantations of Ea were deemed 
the most potent. A most valuable series of the tablets 
containing these ancient formule have been published 
by the Trustees of the British Museum,* and trans- 
lations of them have been published by Mr. J. Campbell 
Thompson, in his work on “Devils and Evil Spirits of 
Babylonia.” Asa typical example, the following may be 
selected :—— 

* Selected Inscriptions, Parts XVI., XVII. 


Rit bHGlNNINGS OF Lith RATURE ~ 269 


“ The evil spirits are raging storms ; 
Fearless spirits created in the vault of heaven ; 
Workers of evil are they, 
Raising their evil heads each day for evil, 
To spread destruction. 
Of these seven, the first is the south wind. 
The second the dragon with mouth agape, which none can (face) ; 
The third an angry leopard, that carries away the (young) ; 
The fifth is a furious beast ; 
The sixth is a rampant (beast), which opposes god and king ; 
The seventh is an evil storm-wind. 
These seven are the envoys of Anu the king. 
From city to city they carry gloom ; 
Tempests that furiously sweep the heavens ; 
Dense clouds that bring gloom over the sky ; 
Whirling winds, casting darkness over the bright day. 
Forcing their way with evil windstorms, 
Mighty destroyers are they, the deluge of the Storm-god. 
On the right hand of the Storm-god they march ; 
In the height of heaven like lightning they flash ; 
To spread destruction they go in front. 
In the widespread heaven, the dwelling of Anu the king, 
They take their stand with evil intent, and have no rival. 
When Bel heard this news, he pondered in his heart ; 
With Ea, the supreme counsellor of the gods, he took counsel, 
And Sin, Samas, and Istar, 
Whom the firmament of heaven to rule he had appointed. 
Of Anu, dividing among them the dominion of the heavenly host, 
These three gods his offspring 
He ordained to stand by day and night, not failing. 
When the seven evil gods 
Forced their way into heaven’s vault, 
Angrily they clustered around the Moon’s disk, 
And brought to their aid Samas and Adad (Sun and Storm).” 


Here the text is much broken, but resumes— 


‘Sin was troubled and sate in gloom ; 
~ By night and day he was dark, 
Nor dwelt (visible) in his seat of rule. 
The evil gods, the messengers of Anu the king, 
Raising their heads, went to and fro through the night, 
Pondering on wickedness. 
From the midst of heaven like the wind they rushed over the land. 


270 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Bel saw the darkening of the hero Sin in heaven, 
And then the lord spake to his minister Nusku— 

O minister Nusku, carry my message to the Ocean ; 
Tell Ea in the Ocean 

The tidings of my son Sin (Moon), 

Who in heaven is grievously bedimmed.” 

There are many more lines of this text, but enough 
has been quoted to show that we have to deal with a 
very interesting legend. The story of the seven evil 
spirits who attack the Moon is manifestly the Babylonian 
magical tale, which has been woven round a lunar eclipse ; 
it is but another form of a belief current in China, Burma, 
and many other lands, that when the Moon or Sun are 
eclipsed they are attacked by dragons and demons, who, 
unless driven away, will devour the orb. It is interesting to 
find so complete a version of this myth of such antiquity, 
for this text, in its oldest form, is probably to be placed 
at least B.C. 1500. 

The magic and demonology of the Babylonians was 
very ancient, and belongs to the earliest periods of the 
history of the people. In the time of Gudea (B.C. 2800) 
we find references to the dread of witches and others 
who were turned out of the city when the king laid the 
foundation of his temple. 

Babylonia, more than Egypt, was the home of the 
black arts—the birthplace of magic and sorcery. It 
was from the Chaldean soothsayers and magicians that 
the Jews derived their elements of the beliefs in demons, 
witches, and wizards, which found their way into Europe 
in medieval times. The Greeks, Syrian Christians, and 
the Arabs all drank at the same stream of occultism, and 
it is especially interesting to have now access to the 
original sources from which they drew. The Babylonian, 
like the modern Hindoo, believed that side by side with 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 27! 


the spirits of light was a dread army of dark beings, “the 
black gods,” as he calls them, who were ever at war with 
him. These terrible beings were all more or less associated 
with the dead—the ghosts, the restless and uncared-for 
souls, the vampires, phantoms of the night, and the un- 
canny ghouls and evil spirits that haunted the desert, 
deserted buildings, and caves in the rock. Like the 
Egyptians, the Babylonians believed that the soul uncared 
for, whose funeral offerings were not provided, would come 
forth and haunt men, demanding their dues. Thus in 
one spell we read, “ Whether thou art the ghost of one 
unburied, or a ghost that none careth for, with none to 
make offerings for it, that hath none to pour out libations 
for it, or the ghost of one that hath no posterity.” The 
neglected souls had to feed “on the dregs of the cup, 
the leavings of the feast, or that which was cast into the 
gutter;” hence the belief that at night the cities were 
filled with restless spirits, seeking sustenance where they 
could find it, and ready to pounce on any stray wanderer. 
This belief is correct to the present day. The uncared-for 
dead were a terrible army—those who had died in prison 
or had been lost in the dread marshes, or the neglected 
dead on the battlefield. More feared were the female 
ghosts, the women who died in child-bed, or while nursing 
their child ; or young people of marriageable age who have 
died. In this class we find the female ghost Lilitu, the 
Lilith of Talmudic folklore, the demon wife of Adam, 
to whom she bore a family of spirit children. Very 
curious is the belief that the ghosts of unmarried women 
wander about, never resting, in search of some one who 
will be captivated by their charms. In these beautiful 
demons we have the origin of the female tempters of the 
Christian saints in the deserts and caves far from the 


272 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


haunts of men. In the ceremonies and materials used 
in driving away or protecting a person from demons we 
have many acts which have survived to this day. Holy 
water sprinkled on the person or house was a potent 
charm ; hair of goats and kids, branches of date, tamarisk, 
and other trees. The water spell, we learn, causes the 
demon “to trickle away like water” while a censor or 
torch of pure light drives the evil spirit out of the body. 
Perhaps one of the most interesting of the features of 
this folklore of ancient Chaldea is the association between 
demons, diseases, and storms. The evil spirits are thus 
described :— 


“Through the gloomy streets by night they roam, 
Smiting sheep-fold and cattle-pen. 
Rending in pieces on high ; bringing destruction below, 
They are the offspring of the under-world. 
Loudly roaring above ; gibbering below, 
They are the bitter venom of the gods. 
They are the storms directed from heaven. 
They are as owls that hoot over the city.” 


In regard to diseases, we learn some curious facts in 
folklore. The plague-god is said to “march from city to 
city, resting alike on the body of chief and slave.” He is 
the own brother to the war-god, and has for his acolyte 
Isum (“the burner”), the god of infectious diseases. Now, 
in a very old folk-poem, dating about B.C. 2500, this god 
Isum, “the one who goes to and fro in the streets,” 
from house to house, is said to have been born in the 
“gutter of the street”—a very ancient diagnosis of the 
origin of infectious diseases. 

Many other points might be noticed, but two are 
especially worthy of attention. It is curious to observe 
how many of these tenets of Chaldean demonology appear 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 273 


in the New Testament. It is the desert, the special haunt 
of demons, that Christ is tempted. We have the men 
possessed with devils in the cemetery ; the man with the 
unclean spirit, who “taketh unto himself seven other spirits 
more evil than himself (Luke xi. 24). The demons hunt 
in sevens, hence the seven devils of the woman of the New 
Testament. We then can see how Jewish folklore had 
been influenced by that of Chaldea. The next point is 
the important question of date. The majority of these 
tablets are of Sumerian origin, dating prior to B.C. 2500, 
but the Semitic translations were made about B.C. 650, and 
some are dated as late as B.C. 204, so that in Babylonia 
the superstitions of magic and demonology long outlived 
the religion, and were eagerly adopted by Jews and Chris- 
tians, and later by Mohammedans. When the Semites 
settled in Babylonia, which must have been at a very 
remote period, they eagerly adopted the learning of the 
Sumerians—their religion or pantheon, at least myths and 
folklore—but the Babylonian Semite had much material 
for literary use of his own. There is a large amount of 
Babylonian literature that shows but little influence of 
the Sumerian, and which for richness of symbolism and 
poetry may take its place beside the highest efforts of 
Hebrew or other Oriental literatures. 

The Oriental, whether Aryan or Semite, was a born 
singer. To hymn the praise of heroes or the glories of 
the tribe, to improvise poems that would thrill and inflame 
the hearts of men, driving them to deeds of daring, was the 
Oriental form of publicspeaking. We find it in the Song of 
Deborah, the Hebrew Psalms, and the Koran. How many 
a great victory has had for its prelude the rhapsody of 
some trivial or national poet. These songs were often 
the local chronicles, and for centuries the bard was the 

db 


274 THE FIRST OF. EMPIRES 


tribal or national historian. In most of the great world 
epics there are fragments that can be traced to pre-epic 
ages—the songs of Thessaly in the Iliad, the old Aryan 
tribal songs in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Such 
fragments appear in the Hebrew Scriptures in the Song of 
the Well, or the riddle of Samson, or, indeed, the whole 
cycle of Samson stories. Recently the British Museum 
obtained some fragments of tablets inscribed with curious 
poems, relating to local events, such as a flood of the 
Tigris, and other events. The opening tablet contains a 
choice little poem— 


“J will sing the song of the lady of the gods ; 
Attend, O hero; give ear, O warrior ; 
Of Mama (goddess), her song is sweeter than honey or wine, 
Sweeter than honey or wine, 
Better than fresh-gathered fruits, better than pure cream.” 


These fragments are written in an archaic character, 
which show that they cannot be later than B.C. 2500, and 
possibly much earlier. They are but little fragments, 
broken and time-worn ; but here we have the germ of the 
songs of Hafiz and Omar Khayaam, in praise of wine— 
“that maketh glad the heart of God and man”—and 
luscious fruit. Another fragment may be quoted ; it is 
the close of a poem relating to the plague-god, and no 
doubt the record of some terrible epidemic which once 
swept the land. 


“ Thus spake the hero Ura (the plague-god)— 
Whosoever shall praise this song, 
In his shrine may plenty abound ; 
Whosoever shall magnify my name, 
May he rule the four quarters of the world ; 
Whosoever shall proclaim the glory of my valour 
Shall have none to oppose him. 


Hk BEGINNINGS (OF EIEEKRATURE § 275 


The singer who chants it shall not die of pestilence, 

But unto king and people his words shall be well-pleasing ; 

The scribe who learns it shall escape from the foe ; 

In the shrine of the people, where he continually invokes my name, 
His understanding will I increase ; 

In the house where this tablet is set, 

Though I Ura be angry, and the seven gods (spirits) bring havoc, 
Yet the dagger of pestilence shall not approach it ; 

Immunity shall rest upon it.” * 


Another curious tablet, long known as the “Cutha legend 
of the Creation,” but which is now shown to be a species 
of heroic poem describing the deeds of a King of Kutha, 
who ridded his land from demons and monsters who 
invaded it, may be quoted. 

There is something of the flavour of an old Teutonic 
fairy-tale about this Babylonian legend, with its heroic 
deeds, etc. The king tells his story — 


“T went not forth from the land, I gave them not battle, 

A people who had the bodies of the birds of the caverns, 

Men who had the faces of ravens ; 

(These) had the great gods created, 

And on earth the gods made them a city ; 

Tiamat gave them suck; the lady of the gods brought them into 
the world ; t 

In the midst of the mountains they became strong, they grew up and 
multiplied exceedingly ; 

Seven kings (were they), brethren fair and comely ; 

The hundred and sixty thousand their forces were in number ; ¢ 

Anbanini their father was king, their mother Melili was queen.” 


The tablet is now very broken, and relates various 
attempts by magic and other means to defeat them. 
Army after army, each time increasing in number until 


* L. W. King, “ First Steps in Assyria,” p. 219. 

+ The legend is probably associated with that of the goddess Mama 
mentioned above, who gave birth to the seven kings. 

¢ It is to be noticed that all numbers are multiples of sixty, like 
the ages of the Hebrew patriarchs. 


276 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


the immense host of 60,700 is reached, is sent, but in each 
case “not one returned alive.” At last the king is roused. 
The king speaks, saying— 


“Thus spake I unto my heart, ‘Now, what am I? 
What have I brought upon my realm? 
I am a king who has brought no prosperity to his land, 
A shepherd who has brought no prosperity to his people ; 
But now I myself will act ; in my own person I will go forth.’ 
The pride of men, and night and death, and disease and trembling, 
And fear and terror, and . . . hunger, 
And famine and misery of every kind, 
Followed after them, 
As if there had been a deluge 
(Like unto) the former deluge.” 


It is much to be regretted that the portion which 
describes the final victory is missing. At the end of the 
tablet the king addresses those rulers who come after him, 
and advises them to make their cities strong and to avoid 
battle in the open field. Hesays— 


“‘ Behold this spell, and hearken to the words thereof, 
And thou shalt not despair, or be feeble ; 
And thou shalt not fear or be afraid. 
May thy foundation (throne) be strong ; 
Sleep thou on the bosom of thy wife ; 
Make strong thy walls, and fill thy moats with water ; 
Bring in thy treasure chests, thy corn, thy silver, and thy pos- 
sessions ; 
Guard thy body and protect thy person ; 
Thou shalt not go out unto him.” 


Mythological as this fragment is in many respects, it 
may have at the bottom a historic element of some great 
national catastrophe. 

With the advent of the Semite a great change took 
place in the literary activity of Babylonia. With that 
adaptive faculty which the Semite has exhibited in all 
lands and all ages, the new-comers began to collect together 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 277 


the folk-legends and form them into cycle or epic poems. 
Of these compilations there are many, but two are of con- 
siderable length, and, fortunately, well preserved. These 
are (1) the Cosmic Epic, a poem in seven tablet-books, 
which contains the legendary history of the creation of the 
world ; (2) the National Epic, a cycle of twelve tablet-books, 
recording the adventures of the great ethnic hero of 
Chaldea, Gilgames (Nimrod). 

The latter of these compositions is the oldest, for seals 
discovered at Sirpurra, which bear the name of Lugal 
Usum-gal, the viceroy of Sargon I., B.c. 3800, bear the 
representations of deeds of Gilgames, which are recorded 
in the poem. 

Here we have Ea-bani, the faithful companion of 
Gilgames, represented as 
struggling with the lion, 
and the hero himself en- 
gaged in combat with the 
mighty bull of Heaven. 
These prove that the 
stories embodied in the 
epic must have been cur- 


SEAL WITH FIGURES FROM EPIC, 
rent in the thirty-ninth B.C. 3 


century before the Christian era. 

The Gilgames-Nimrod epic was the national poem of 
the Babylonians, and although in its later forms it is a 
mythological composition, the hero becoming a personifi- 
cation of the sun-god, still there are not lacking indications 
that there is a historical element in the composition. The 
popularity of the epic, established, as we have seen, at a 
very early period, continued throughout all ages. The 
episodes supplied the gem engravers of Chaldea with a 
rich supply of material, and scenes from it are found on 


278 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


hundreds of cylinder seals. Just as the Greek lapidaries 
used the labours of Hercules, or the episodes in the Trojan 
War, or the Loves of Aphrodite, so the lapidaries of 
Babylonia drew upon the deeds of Gilgames, the amours 
of Istar, and the Creation epic for their material. A fine 
example is the seal of Ikisa-Nahe, son of Lamadi the 
scribe, his servant, a seal of the late period B.c. 500, which 
represents the hero struggling with the lion. Here the 
representation of action and the treatment of muscles, 
both of hero and animal, are extremely fine. 


GILGAMES AND THE LION. 


The national epic has for its scene the city kingdom of 
Erech, for which city Gilgames was ruler. What was the 
form of the poem in the earliest stage of the Sargonide 
and pre-Sargonide times we cannot say ; probably it con- 
sisted of numerous incidents not yet woven into a concrete 
whole. We may reasonably suppose that this re-editing 
and composition of the twelve-book form is to be attributed 
to the literary activity of the age of the kings of the first 
Babylonian dynasty, about B.C. 2300 ; probably to the latter 
part of this period. 

The national epic differs from the Creation poem in 
some most important features. The latter is essentially 
a composition embodying material of various dates and 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 279 


origins, woven together by the priests of the theological 
college of Babylon, and edited so as to give prominence to 
the local and national god Marduk. The national epic 
displays no such re-editing; it is essentially a local poem 
associated with Erech and with the Erechite hero Gilgames, 
and the local god Anu and the goddess Istar. Babylon 
is never mentioned in the poem as Marduk. Again, the 
Creation epic contains many portions which indicate the 
use of Sumerian documents, notably in the seventh tablet, 
whereas there is nothing in the Gilgames epic which can 
be distinctly pointed to as Sumerian. The minor folk- 
tales, such as the Loves of Istar for the Horse and Lion, 
which occur in the sixth tablet, may be old Sumerian 
stories ; as also may the Tammuz legend. 

The arrangement of the component books of the epic, 
according to the signs of the Zodiac, belongs to the period 
when the ethnic hero had become a solar myth; and this 
also would point to its being compiled during the period 
of the Arabio-Babylonian dynasty. 

So much has been written upon the epic that I do 
not propose to give extensive translations, but rather to 
deal wiht the literary character and value of this ancient 
poem.* The solar character of the hero is clearly indi- 
cated by the correspondence which exists between the 
episodes and the signs of the Zodiac, but it is more clearly 
brought out in a hymn to the hero, which forms part of a 
magical work— 


“© Gilgames, great king, judge of the spirits of earth ; 
O prince, great counsellor of mankind, 
Overseer of all regions, ruler of the world, lord of the whole earth ; 
Thou judgest like a god, thou decidest decisions, 


* A very full synopsis, with translations, is to be found in King’s 
“Babylonian Religion.” 


280 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Thou art established on earth, thou fulfillest judgment ; 

Thy judgments are unchanged, thy command is unaltered ; 

Thou dost examine (all), thou commandest, thou judgest, thou dost 
see and direct ; 

The sun-god has entrusted to thy hand sceptre and decision.” 


Here the hero becomes the human representation of 
the sun-god, the divine lord of laws, and the hymn bears 
a remarkable resemblance to the epithets applied to the 
sun-god in the epilogue to the code of Khammurabi. 

The solar character is again strongly indicated in the 
arrangement of the episodes. For the first six books all 
the deeds record the increasing greatness and power of 
the hero, his elevation to the throne of Erech, the glory of 
his court, where “he had no equal, no rival to oppose him.” 
He is described as “Gilgames the perfect in strength, who 
surpasses all men in strength like the mountain bull.” 
Next comes the war and defeat of the national foe. Khum- 
baba the Elamite, who dwelt in the dark forest-clad hills 
of the north-east. Gilgames is now at the zenith of his 
power, so now the sun has reached its greatest power at 
the time of the summer solstice. A new character now 
appears on the scene—Istar, the voluptuous goddess, queen 
of love, the sensual goddess, with her attendants Samkhat 
(“pleasure’’), Kharimat the devotee, and her bands of harlots 
(Aadisté) and the ensnarers (A7zsrite). The goddess pro- 
poses marriage, “Be thou my husband, and I will be thy 
wife ;” but the hero knows the character of the goddess, 
and rebukes her, throwing in her face her former amours 
and the ills she has brought upon her lovers. Enraged 
at the refusal, the goddess seeks vengeance, and seeks to 
overcome the hero by a terrible bull which Anu created 
for her, but the hero, aided by his companion Ea-bani, 
destroys the bull. The vengeance of the goddess is 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 281 


brought about in another way, unfortunately not clearly 


revealed to us in 
the broken state of 
the tablets, Ihe 
hero is afflicted with 
leprosy, and from 
this time onwards 
the progress of the 
hero isoneof disease, 
misery, and disaster. 
His giant strength 
wanes, his luxuriant 
locks, the sign of his 
strength, fall off, and 
he is filled with the 
dread of death and 
with a terribleyearn- 
ing for the know- 
ledge of the secret 
of immortality. The 
sun has now passed 
theesezenith, and 
wearily winds its 
way to the dark 
cavern of winter and 
night. 

In his search for 
immortality the hero 
visits the garden in 
the west when the 
sun sets, where he 
encounters’ the 


GILGAMES (NIMROD). 
(Photo by Girandon, Paris.) 


scorpion men who guard the gate of the setting sun. 


282 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


These giant figures are like the Kerubim who guard the 
gate of Paradise— 
“Then they reached the twin mountain, 

Whose exit is guarded by (scorpion men), 

Whose shoulders extend to the threshold of heaven, 

Whose breast reaches the under-world. 

Scorpion men guard its gate, 

Barring with terribleness ; to look upon them is death 

Full of terrible splendour . 

At sunrise and sunset they guard the sun.” 


Passing the abode of the scorpion men, he comes to 
the garden of the west, where trees are loaded with jewelled 
fruit. Here he learns that one alone can tell him the 
secret of immortal life —Samas-napisti, the Chaldean 
Noah, who has survived the deluge, and dwells in the land 
of immortality at “the mouth of the rivers.” To this sage 
he turns, and hence we have the deluge story woven into 
the epic. 

From this brief vesamé, it at once appears that we have 
a mass of material of the utmost value to students of com- 
parative mythology. Notonly have we a most astonishing 
correspondence to the Greek legends of Herakles, an 
agreement so close that we must regard the Chaldean 
poem as the real source of this Hellenic cycle of stories, 
but the Hebrew myth of Samson, the solar hero of the 
Hebrews, is to be traced to the same source. 

As regards the Hellenic affinities, it requires but a 
very little examination to discover them. Like Herakles, 
Gilgames is celebrated for his strength. The war against 
Khumbaba is, perhaps, the basis of two episodes in the 
Greek story, first the war against Erginus, King of Orcho- 
menos, or the war and spoliation of the Geryones. It is 
evident that the defeat by Gilgames of Khumbaba the 
Elamite represents the delivery from a tyrannical foe. 


SHE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 283 


The companionship between the hero and the creature 
Ea-bani, half man and half bull, is parallel with the friend- 
ship between Herakles and Khieron, and both met with 
untimely ends, Khieron being killed by the poisoned arrow 
of his master, Ea-bani apparently by the lightning (Zam- 
bukku).* The illness of Gilgames, when his body is covered 
“with leprosy as with a garment,” is curiously like 
Herakles, smitten with death from the poisoned garment 
of Nessus. The description of the illness of Gilgames is 
one of the most interesting portions of the poem. We 
read— 


“The man thou hast brought to me is covered with sores ; 
The eruption of his skin has spoiled the beauty of his body. 
Take him, O Arad Ea (servant of Ea), to the place of purification, 
To wash his sores in the water, that his body may become pure as 
snow ; 
Let the sea carry away the eruption of his skin, 
That his body may become pure ; 
Let his hair be renewed, and a garment cover his nakedness.” 


How graphic a description, how vividly it depicts that 
curse of the Orient, the “leper, white as snow.” Some 
interesting lines referring to leprosy are found on a 
boundary stone recently discovered at Susa, and dated 
about B.C. 1300. The passage occurs among the curses 


invoked upon those who injure this ancient landmark, 
We read— 


“‘ May leprosy clothe his body like a garment all the days of his life ; 
May he be excluded from his home ; 
Like a wild beast of the field, on the earth may he lay himself down ; 
The streets of his own city may he never tread.” 


It is interesting to notice that the leper Gilgames is 


* The word fambukku means “the gadfly,” and in this episode 
originated the Arab story of Nimrod being killed by a fly. 


284 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


to bathe seven times in the sea, as Naaman was ordered 
to bathe seven times in Jordan, 

Next the visit of the hero to the garden in the west 
finds its counterpart in the visit of Herakles to the garden 
of the Hesperides. The scorpion men are the origin of 
the Greek Atlas, who bore up the heavens; and in the 
twin mountains, between which the Sun passed, we have 
the basis of the mythic pillars of Herakles. The striking 
parallels thus established between the ancient Chaldean 
epic and the Hellenic legends of Herakles are sufficient 
to show the indebtedness of the West to the East for 
its inspiration. Not only is Greek literature indebted to 
the writers of Chaldea, but the Hebrews, no doubt, found 
echoes of this ancient Saga in Canaan, and borrowed and 
adapted it in the story of Samson, the Solar hero of 
Hebrew mythology. The slaying of the lion is but an 
echo of the heroic deed of Gilgames, recorded on tablets 
and depicted on gems and seals. The love of Samson 
and Delilah are but an echo of the loves of Istar, and 
the loss of his hair deprives him of his strength, as Gil- 
games lost his when his luxuriant locks fell off from 
disease. One episode in the story of Samson is illustrated 
by the mythology of Chaldea, the carrying away of the 
gates of Gaza (Judges xvi. 1-4). Samson (the Sun) is 
at war with the ethnic foe of the Hebrews, the Philistines, 
as Gilgames was with the Elamites. At dawn Samson 
is shut in Gaza. Gaza = Assyrian (£hazzte) “the strong 
city” by night. Now, each night the Sun is shut in the 
strong fortress of night, but each morning he bursts the 
gates open, and escapes from his foes, carrying the gates 
with him. This episode is explained on the tablets and 
gems, and especially in a hymn to the sun-god, where 
we read— 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 285 


“© Sun-god, out of the horizon of heaven thou comest forth, 
The bolt of the bright heaven thou openest, 
The door of heaven thou dost open. 
O Sun-god, over the world dost thou lift thy head ; 
O Sun-god, with the glory of heaven thou coverest the world.” 


As Gilgames wanders wearily to his end, so the blind 
and shorn Samson dies at last, amid the débris of the 
temple of Dagon; that is the Sun buried beneath the 


THE SUN GOD PASSING THE GATES OF HEAVEN. 


dark winter clouds. On the gems the Sun-god is often 
represented coming forth from the gates of the dawn. 

The episode of the deluge, which is woven into the 
eleventh tablet-book, belongs to an age prior to the 
composition of the epic, and the story has been boldly 
woven in. The eleventh month of the old Sumerian 
calendar was called the “ Month of the Curse of Rain,” 
corresponding to the sign of Aquarius. Like the rest 
of the epic, the Babylonian deluge story, as it appears 
in the poem, is composite in character. There are two 
distinct elements to commence with, the ethic and the 
natural. Like the Hebrew story, the Babylonian legend 
makes the deluge a divine punishment for sin on the 
part of the inhabitants of the native city of the Chaldean 


286 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Noah (Samas-napisti).* The family of the sage are pro- 
tected by Ea, while the deluge is attributed to the anger 
of the god Mullil, or the Old Bel. This seems to indicate 
a rivalry between the two theological schools of Eridu 
and Nippur. In addition to this there is also another 


3 SES ~ 


— 


= * 
SS se a] 
= = as 
<< a = 


DELUGE TABLET (OBVERSE.) 


element, that of the climatological myth, where the poem 
is descriptive of one of those terrible winter storms which 
sweep the plain during the months of January and 
February. 

As I have dealt with the relation between this story 


* There is still much uncertainty as to the reading of the name 
ey -YYS It is read by Haupt and others Pi-napistum (“ Offspring 
of Life”), Um-napistum (“ Day of Life”), and other forms; but I still 
consider the reading Samas-napistum (‘the Sun of Life, or Living Sun”) 
to be most suitable as opposed to Gilgames as the “ Dying Sun of 
Winter.” 


CHE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 287 


and the Hebrew very fully in a former work, I do not 
propose to minutely compare the two versions. The general 
agreement is shown in the special appendix. 

In the Babylonian version the vessel of salvation is 
a ship with masts, decks, oars, etc., not a box, as in the 
Hebrew account; but the tradition may have arisen from 


YI) 
v nie roy 


te 


; sy 

ery 

Vy RTA ay 

ST AT Dy 

Di os ae rr 
vith ALYY a), 


SA 


DELUGE TABLET (REVERSE). 


the curious shape given to the ark of the Chaldean Noah 
on some of the gems, where it is an unmistakable box. 
Looking at the agreements and differences between the 
two accounts, it seems to me that the Hebrew is not 
directly borrowed from the Babylonian, but, rather, taken 
from a secondary source, possibly from some tradition 
which was current in Canaan, but re-edited during the 
Captivity. Here, as in the Creation story, we find the 
Yahavistic version approaches nearest to the Babylonian 


288 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


account, the vd/e of Ea representing that of Yaveh. He 
is the one who warns Samai-napisti of the coming cata- 
clysm, who instructs him to build the ark, and after the 
escape pacifies the offended and enraged Bel. The in- 
fluence of the school 
of Eridu is as mani-— 
fest here as at )has 
been shown to be in 
the legend of civili- 
zation and in the 
Creation stories. The 


SAMAS NAPISTI AND HIS WIFE ; GILGAMES discovery by Dr, 
RES Schiel of a variant 
version of the legend on a tablet discovered at Sippara, 
dated in the reign of Ammi-sadugga of the first Baby- 
lonian dynasty, shows that the legend was current prior 
£0) B:C..2200: 
Some portions of the climatological poem describing 
the terrible deluge storm are among the finest known 
portions of Babylonian writing— 


“On the coming of the dawn 
There rose dark clouds on the horizon of heaven ; 
Within them Adad (Storm-god) thundered his thunder ; 
Naba and the Wind-god marched in front ; 
The throne-bearers * passed over mountain and plain ; 
The Pestilence-god let loose his demons (?) 
Ninip advances, furious with rage ; 
The spirits of Earth carry torches, 
Flashing over all the universe ; t 
The whirlwind of Adad sweeps the heavens ; 
All light is turned to darkness.” ¢ 


Passing now to the epic of Cosmos, we have a 
poem the construction of which at once reveals its very 


* The storm-clouds, like Yaveh, riding on the Kerubim. 
t A very graphic description of lightning. 
{ See Appendix D for full analysis of Deluge Legend. 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 289 


composite character. Like the Hebrew accounts in the 
opening chapters of Genesis, it displays clearly the handi- 
work of more than one editor. The whole of the known 
tablets and fragments relating to this poem have been so 
excellently published and edited by Mr. L. W. King in his 
work on the “Seven Tablets of Creation,” that I shall only 
deal with the construction and literature of the poem. 
The poem originally consisted of about one thousand lines 
of writing, and was at an early period divided into seven 
tablet-books, as the Gilgames epic was into twelve. 
Similar to the Hebrew seven days of creation, this 
arrangement in no way corresponds to the creative week 
of Genesis, culminating in the sabbath, for the actual 
work of creation does not commence until the fourth 
tablet. Asin the case of the national epic, we have both a 
religious and a natural element in the poem. The former 
is represented by the 7é/e of Marduk, the local god of 
Babylon, now elevated to the position of national god, 
and endowed with such titles as “the lord of the gods 
of heaven and earth,” “the king of the gods of heaven 
and earth,’ “the counsellor of Bel and Ea,” “lord of 
Babylon,” “restorer of Babylon,” “the ruler of Babylon.” 
In the seventh tablet, which contains the great pean of 
praise to the victorious Marduk, we have a passage the 
importance of which I have already noticed. “The lord 
of the world” the father Bel hath called his name. This 
title all the spirits of heaven proclaimed. Ea heard this 
and rejoiced, and said, “ He whose name his fathers have 
made glorious shall be even as I, his name shall be Ea; 
the binding together (codification) of all my decrees he 
shall control; all my laws he shall make known.” Here 
we have a passage which presents, as I have already said, 
so remarkable a resemblance to the opening lines of the 
Ui) 


290 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


‘code of King Khammurabi, that they may be said to 
emanate from the same school. The gist of the whole is, 
the transference of the learning and power of the old 
seats of wisdom and rule, namely, Eridu and Nippur, to 
Babylon, and the elevation of Marduk over the older gods 
Ea and Bel. This, then, indicates most certainly an 
editing of the texts about the time of the first Babylonian 
dynasty, B.C. 2300-2000. In the cosmic epic we have, 
however, fragments which belong to an older period 
than the times of the first dynasty of Babylon, which 
produced the composition of many of the great literary 
works. 

The two elements in the poem, the natural and the 
religious, are clearly to be divided, the former represented 
by the Dragon myth, the latter by the work of creation, 
and especially by the great festival of praise which 
terminates the poem. 

The Dragon myth is one of the most universal of 
legends ; hardly a nation possessing a mythical literature 
is without it in some form or other. It is a myth of 
which the source is at once apparent. In the dawn of 
civilization men dreaded the darkness and night; it was 
then that the dread army of demons and spirits had their 
rule, bringing terror and destruction upon all. What 
better simile could they find for the darkness that coiled 
round the earth each night, or for the dark storm-clouds 
that gathered and obscured the bright vault of heaven, 
than that of dragons and serpents? In a land so full 
as Babylonia of superstition, the development of a dragon 
myth was a necessity. In the list of the evil powers we 
read of “the black serpent,” “the serpent of night,” “the 
serpent with seven heads and seven tails”—that is the 
serpent of the week, to whom I shall have to refer again. 


THE BEGINNINGS OF EITERATURE 291 


Thus the dragon myth had its origin in the old days of 
animism and of the age of demonology. 

We have already seen that the dragon, or great serpent 
.(usum-gal), figures in the Eclipse myth; and we have a 
fragment belonging to the pre-epic age of the Creation 
which presents a close resemblance to this poem.* 


“ The cities sighed, 
Men uttered lamentations ; 
For their lamentations there was no help ; 
In their grief there was none to take (them by the hand) 
Who was the dragon (serpent) ? 
Tiamat was the dragon, 
Bel in the heavens had sent ; 
Fifty saspu his length, one sasfz his height, 
Six cubits his mouth, twelve cubits (his nostrils), 
Twelve cubits the circuit of his ears, 
For sixty cubits his (wings) like a bird, 
In water nine cubits he dragged ; 
He raised his tail on high; 
All the gods of heaven feared, 
In heaven all the gods crouched themselves down ; t 
The edge of the Moon-god’s robe they (grasped), 
Who will go and slay the dragon, 
And drive him from the broad land, 
And exercise sovereignty (there) ? 
Go, Tiskhu,f slay the dragon, 
And drive him from the broad land, 
And exercise sovereignty there. 
Thou hast sent me, O lord, to the raging creatures of the river, 
But I know not the (spell) against the dragon. 
[Considerable break. ] 


And . . . opened his mouth and spake unto the god : 
Raise up cloud and whirlwind ; 

Set the seal of thy life before thee ; 

Grasp it, and thou shalt slay the dragon. 


* The text of this inscription is given in “Selected Cuneiform 
Texts,” Pt. XIII. Pl. 33, and a translation by Mr. King in “ Seven 
Tablets of Creation,” pp. 116-119. I have only varied a few phrases. 

+ Compare the use of this expression in Deluge tablet. 

¢ Tiskhu “was a war-god,” sometimes identified also with Istar. 


to 
Ke) 
NO 


THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


He stirred up cloud and whirlwind ; 

He set the seal of life before his face ;* 

He grasped it and slew the dragon. 

For three years and three months and one day and one (night), 
Flowed the blood of the dragon.” 

Here we have a myth the natural basis of which is 
an eclipse, or else the battle between the moon and the 
storm-clouds. 

With the development of civilization and culture the 
Dragon myth begins to assume more elaborate forms. 
Besides the dragon of night, there grew up the conception 
of the great primeval night dragon, who had held the 
world in bondage ere the work of creation had begun. 
This conception is represented by a pair of creatures, 
Apsu, “the primeval deep” (absi ristu), and “the chaos 
Tiamat” (Wiimmu Tiamat), whose nature is defined in 
the opening lines of the first tablet of the series— 

“The primeval Apsu who begat them ; 
The chaos Tiamat, the mother of them all— 
Their waters were mingled together.” 

The wailing nature of the primeval chaos is found in 
the Hebrew and Egyptian cosmogonies. In the former 
it is represented by Tehom (“the deep”), and then ascribed 
by the epithets “ without form, and void.” Even better is 
the Egyptian conception of the moist humid substance 
out of which all things were developed, the primeval pat 
(50), “a most seething mass of matter.’ t Two marked 
features characterized this first of ages: “the absence of 
order,” ‘none bore a name; no destinies were’ ordained.” 
Without a name—that is, without being called into exis- 
tence by the creator—nothing could exist. In the Hebrew, 


0 66 


* The kunukku napisté (“seal of life”) was some kind of charm, 
like the Gorgon’s head of Medusa. 


t Papyrus of Nesi Amsu. 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 293 


“ And God said” is the creative formula, or, in the Egyp- 
tian, the primeval god Kheperer says, “I uttered my own 
name as a word of power, and straightway I came into 
being.” The second was the rule of darkness—“ and 
darkness covered the face of the deep” (Gen. i. 1). 

The first tablet sets out these features. 


FIRST CREATION TABLET. 


‘“ When on high the heaven was unnamed, 
And for the earth below a name was not uttered, 
The primeval Apsu begat them, 
And Chaos Tiamat was the mother of them all. 
Their waters were mingled together, 
A field was not formed, no marsh had been seen ; 
Where not any of the gods had come forth, 
And none bore a name, and no destinies were ordained 
Then were created the great gods within (heaven ?).” 


Here we have a description which agrees with both 
the Elohistic and Yahvistic versions of the Hebrew. The 
same water chaos as in Genesis (i. 1), while no verdure, 
even the rank marsh, had come into being, which agrees 
with Yahvist’s version. “No ‘plant of the field was yet 
in the earth, no herb had yet sprung up” (Gen. ii. 5) ; and 
in an ancient Creation poem of Sumerian origin we read, 
“No seed had sprung up, no tree had been created.” 


204 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


The first work is the institution of order by assigning 
the main division of nature to divinities. 


“Then Ansar and Kisar were created over them.” 


This is the subdivision of nature into the upper and 
lower world. This is followed by the creation of Anu as 
god of heaven, and Ea as god of the ocean. Still, how- 
ever, Tiamat and Apsu remained in a chaotic union. The 
introduction of cosmic order tended to put an end to the 
rule of this primeval pair. We are told “Apsu was not 
diminished in power. Still Tiamat roared. Their way 
was evil.” The downfall of Chaos was the birth of order. 
Apsu cries, “ By day I cannot rest, by night I-cannot lie 
down in peace; but I will destroy their way.” It was 
this way (a/kat) or path of regular order that destroyed 
the dormant comatose life of Chaos. But the powers of 
Chaos did not submit quietly. After consulting the two, 
Tiamat and Apsu decided to destroy the order or way of 
the gods. “Let us make their way difficult. Their way is 
strong, but thou shalt destroy it; then by day shalt thou 
have rest, by night shalt thou lie down in peace.” 

But a new power appears to combat the evil powers. 
“ Ea, who is wise in all things, went up and heard their 
mutterings.” It is unfortunate that this portion of the 
first tablet is so mutilated as to render any concise trans- 
lation impossible, but it ends in Apsu being destroyed and 
Mummu his counsellor taken captive. Broken as it is, we 
see here the fragment of an old poem of the school of 
Eridu, which has been woven into the epic, and represents 
the triumph of mind over matter, of the cosmic order 
over Chaos, the establishment of the reign of law. 

In Babylonia, as in Egypt, law and truth was the 
essential attribute of the great gods. 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 295 


The Sun-god was the special type of unvarying order, 


for we read, 
“Thou risest each 
day by law; thy 
path is an un- 
changing one, 
Direct thy path 
(march) along 
the way, set forth 
for thy going; 
the law of man- 
kind dost thou 
direct; thou art 
eternally just in 
heaven ; thou art 
ever faithful in 
judgment to all 
the world.” So 
also in Egypt we 
find this attribute 
of law or truth 
among the most 
important attri- 
butes of the god- 
Read. “ Truth 
embraceth thee at 
morn and eve. 
Ra liveth on 
truth ; he feedeth 
on truth. Men 
love thee because 
of thy beautiful 


PORTIONS OF SECOND CREATION TABLET. 


law of day.” This phase of the conflict between law and 


296 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


order and chaos in so ancient a poem is of great impor- 
tance, for in most ancient religions the Sun, or the chief 
representation of cosmic order, becomes in later times 
the lord of moral law. 

In the Egyptian stele of Tahebt we read, “I have 
walked upon the path of the faithful, upright as Ra.” The 
maat of cosmic order becomes the maat or Justice and 
truth of moral law in the Egyptian religious and ethical 
teaching. The conquest of Apsu does not end the conflict. 
Here the editors have evidently woven into the poem 
an old myth of the dragon war, and much elaborated it. 
The connecting-link is afforded by the catch-phrase 
(Tablet I., line 103), where we read, ‘‘ Thou shalt take 
vengeance for them.” 

In Tablets I, II., III., we have a mass of repetition, 
so that it is clear that the editors had been drawing on 
more than one source of material, and certainly had not 
succeeded in blending them into a very coherent whole. 

Tiamat becomes now both a nature power and a repre- 
sentative of the realm of darkness and evil, with a strange 
host of demons and other allies. 

The words are often repeated, but the most complete 
version occurs in the third tablet (lines 15~31) :— 


“ He saith, Tiamat our mother has turned against us with hatred ; 
With all her force she furiously rages ; 
All the gods have turned to her.* 
With those which ye created they go at her side ; 
They are banded together ; by the side of Tiamat they advance. 
Furiously they plot, not ceasing night or day ; 
Rising for battle, fuming and raging, 
They have set their array, and are making war. 
Ummu Khubur, who planned all things, 


* This must mean the so-called “black gods,” or gods of night ; 
the evil gods. 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 297 


Hath made, in addition, invincible weapons; she has spawned 
monster serpents, 

Sharp of tooth, merciless of fang ; 

With poison instead of blood she has filled their bodies ; 

Fierce dragons she hath clothed with terror ; 

With awe she has adorned them, and made them of lofty stature ; 

He who looks upon them is overcome with terror ; 

Their bodies rear up, and none can withstand their attack ; 

She has placed vipers, hissing serpents, and the monster Lakhmu, 

Storms, ragging hounds, and scorpion men, 

Mighty storms, fish-men, rams, 

Bearing merciless weapons, having no fear of battle ; 

Her commands are mighty, none can oppose them. 

After this manner, huge of form, eleven (groups of monsters) has 
she made 

From the gods her offspring ; because he had aided her, 

Kingu she exalted, she raised him to power, 

To command the army, to lead the forces, 

To give the battle signal,* to set the attack, 

To direct the battle, to order the fight ; 

All this she has entrusted to his hand, and caused him to sit in royal 
robes (saying to him)— 

‘I have uttered my spell; in the assembly of the gods I have exalted 
thee ; 

The dominion over all the gods I have entrusted to thy hands ; 

Be thou exalted, my chosen spouse ; 

May the spirits of earth magnify thy renown over all.’ 

She has given him the tablets of destiny and placed them on his 
breast.* 

‘Thy command shall be unfailing, and the word of thy mouth 
established.’ ” 


Such was the dark host which the powers of evil and 
darkness gather to make war against order and light. 


* The possession of the ‘“‘ Tablets of Destiny” (duffi simati) gave 
absolute power to control gods and men. In the legend of Zu, who 
stole the destiny tablets, we are told “that they gave the power to 
proclaim the laws of the gods or the destiny of all things.” Worn on 
the breast like the breastplate, and probably represented by the 
“seven stones” the king wore as a pectoral, they were certainly 
the origin of the breastplate of the High Priest, and the oracle of the 
Urim and Thummim. After the defeat of Kingu and Tiamat, Marduk 
places them on his own breast. 


298 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


The very detailed description which we have here of 
the Hell-host which Tiamat has gathered round her, is 
of great value to the student of comparative mythology. 

Here we have, firstly, the original of the horde of 
composite creatures ascribed by Berosus as preceding 
the creation of light. The Greco-Chaldean historian 
says, “Once all was darkness and water. In this chaos 
lived horrid animals, men with two wings, others with 
four wings* and two faces. Others had the thighs of 
goats and hornsf on their heads; others had had horses’ 
feet or were formed behind like a horse, in front like a 
man.t There were bulls with human heads, and horses 
and men with heads of dogs, and other animals of human 
shape with fins like fishes,§ and fishes like sirens, and 
dragons, and creeping things, serpents and wild creatures,]] 
the images of which are found in the temple of Bel.| 

The description is more interesting, from a mytho- 
logical point of view, as showing here the development 
of Dualism. As the old contest between Ea and Apsu 
had been one between Chaos and Cosmic order, so this 
second phase represents the conflict between Light and 
Darkness, between Good and Evil. The Dualism here 
is that which we have hitherto found most fully developed 
in the Zoroastrian creed of the Zend Avesta. 

The black gods, the ‘‘gods of night,” are the Zend 
Devas, the followers of Angro-maynus, or Ahriman, and 


* Figures of genii with four wings may be seen in Nimrod gallery. 

t The figures of the bull-headed Ea-bani he probably means. 

{ The centaur on the boundary stone of the Meli-sikhu in the 
New Babylonian room, No. 90827, and the scorpion Saggitarius on 
that of Nebuchadnezzar I., No. 90858. 

$ Figures of Ea and the mermen. 

{| All on the boundary stones. 

|| Several of these were found by the German explorers. 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 299 


the opponents of Auramazda, as the Babylonian “brood” 
were the opponents of Marduk. But who are this fell 
crowd but the old evil spirits of the magical tablets and 
the creed of Animism. The Devas of the Avesta “are 
born in the gloom of sunset or in the dark clouds of the 
North, in burial-places or in the places where the dead 
are placed, in all corners where light does not penetrate, 
in the darkest places of earth, or in the abyss. To them 
belong cold and gloom, drought, barren land and wilder- 
ness, poisonous plants and herbs, hunger and _ thirst, 
sickness and death.” 

Surely this entourage of Ahriman, like that of Tiamat, 
is the old demon horde of the magical litanies, who are 
described as bringing “cold and rain” and floods, destruc- 
tive blasts and evil winds, raging storms, fever, poison, 
pain sorcery, evil malaria. It is they who dwell in the 
desert, in ruins, in the graves and tombs, who haunt dark 
places and deserted buildings, and prowl about like pariah 
dogs. The forms of the eleven tribes of demons—for, as 
Mr. King suggests correctly, the words are to be taken 
in a collective sense—are those of the noxious animals 
and reptiles which serve the Devas and inflict injury 
on man. This curious parallel between the Zoroastrian 
creed and that of Babylonia may not be without con- 
siderable value in the study of the growth and develop- 
‘ment of the Persian religion, much regarding which still 
remains obscure. 

In heaven all is consternation at this terrible revolt, 
and Ansar, the god of heaven, vainly tries to quell the 
revolt; and all appears lost until a champion is found 
in Marduk, who accepts the 7éle of “avenger” of the 
gods. 

This passage, which describes the selection, or rather 


300 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


acceptance of Marduk as the avenger of the gods, is a 
very remarkable one in several ways.* 

Here, in the first place, we must notice that Marduk 
is called the Son of Ansar, “the god of heaven,” not the 
Son of Ea, as in the magical and older litanies. An-Sar 
is explained as K7iSsat-Samie, the “host of heaven,’ and 
the title is the exact equivalent of the Hebrew “Lord 
of hosts,” or the “Lord of the heavenly host,’ t a well- 
known epithet of the Hebrew Yaveh. 

Ansar thus addresses his son— 


“<Thou art my son, who maketh merciful his heart, 
To battle thou shalt draw nigh. 
He that looketh unto thee shall have peace.’ 
The lord rejoiced at the word of his father. 
He drew nigh and placed himself before Ansar. 
Ansar beheld him, and his heart was filled with joy ; 
He kissed him on his lips, and fear quitted him. 
‘O my Father, the command of thy orbs be defeated. 
Let me go and accomplish all that is in thy heart. 
What man is it who has forced thee forth to (do) battle ? 
Tiamat, who is a woman, armed and attacketh thee. 
Rejoice now and be glad. 
The neck of Tiamat thou shalt swiftly tread underfoot.’” 


Marduk now goes forth as the avenger of the gods; 
his mission is of a Messianic character. The véle of 


’ 


avenger is di7-g¢mzli (“restorer of satisfaction” or peace). 
The epithets applied to the god Marduk in the epic are 


* Tablet II., lines 110-124. 

+ Av-sar = the host of heaven, K7-Sar the host of earth; and the 
role of these two abstract divinities is well expressed by the phrase 
in Gen. ii. 1, “And the heavens and the earth were finished, all the 
host of them.” In the more systematic theology of Babylon, as 
distinguished from the magic of the older time, Ansar and Kisar 
replace the “ Spirit of Heaven and the Spirit of Earth” in the formula, 
“By the (Spirit of) Heaven be ye exorcised, by (the Spirit) of Earth 
be ye exorcised” (Thompson, ‘‘ Devils and Evil Spirits,” p. 13, 
l. 116). 


Tae ssAGINNINGS OF It awa URE 301 


exactly those which we find the Hebrew prophet Isaiah 
applying to the Messiah. He is called “the son,” “the 
first-born son,” “the mighty god,” “the one to look upon 
whom is peace,” “the Counsellor,” “the counsellor of all the 
gods ;” he is endowed with “the sovereignty and dominion 
of the whole earth.” Surely we have here all the titles 
of the Child in Isaiah ix. 6, “Unto us a child is born, 
unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon 
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, 
Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,* Prince of 
Peace.” ‘[he words are in many cases the same, and the 
conception of the Divine deliverer is common to both 
writings. It is to be noticed that in Isaiah the passage 
seems to be an interpolation, having no direct connection 
with the verses before or after. 

Marduk is chosen and commissioned in the solemn 
assembly of the gods, wpsukkinaku, or “council chamber.” 
As he is going forth to war his destiny is cast, as was that 
of the Babylonian kings on going forth to war.t 

As we have seen the assembly of the Host of Dark- 
ness, so now we have a fine piece of poetic writing 
describing the going forth of Marduk, like Michael, as 
the avenger of the gods— 


“ After that the gods (his father’s) had cast the destiny for the Lord, 
The path of prosperity and peace they caused him take. 
He made ready the bow, he selected his weapon, 
He slung a spear upon him and fixed it; 
He raised his mace; in his right hand he grasped it. 
The bow and the quiver he at his side he hung. 
He set lightning in front of him. 
With hot, burning flame he filled his body. 


* Compare the titles given to Marduk: “begetter (wwadlidat) of 
the gods,” “restorer of the gods,” “creator (4anz) of all the gods.” 
+ Compare Ezek. xxi. 21, 22. 


302 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


He made a net to enclose the depths of Tiamat. 

He stationed the four winds that nothing might come forth from her— 

The south wind, the north wind, and the east and west winds. 

He drew up the net, the gift of his father Anu. 

He created the whirlwind, tempest, and hurricane, 

The fourfold and sevenfold winds, and the wind that none could 
withstand. 

He sent forth these seven winds which he had created 

To disturb the depths of Tiamat ; they followed after him. 

Then the lord raised the thunderbolt, his mighty weapon. 

He mounted his chariot the storm, unequalled for terror ; 

He harnessed and yoked to it four horses, 

‘ Destruction,’ ‘ Unsparing,’ ‘Overwhelming,’ and ‘ Swift of Pace.’* 

His head was decked with overwhelming brightness. 

Then he set out, he took his way.” 


This passage is certainly full of rich poetry, and at 
once recalls to mind the grand description of the panoply 
of war which Mithra assumes in his fight against the 
Devas. Take the following striking examples— 

Mithra is called, “ Victory-making, army-governing, 
endowed with a thousand senses, power-possessing, all- 
knowing, who sets the battle a-going, who, standing against 
armies, in battle breaks asunder the lines arranged. The 
wings of the columns to battle shake, and he throws terror 
upon the havocking host.” And then the description 
of Mithras’ chariot, “ Four stallions draw that chariot ; all 
of them are of white colour, fed with ambrosia. The 
hoofs of the fore feet are shod with gold, and the hoofs 
of the hind feet with silver ; all are yoked to the same pole, 
and wear the yoke.” { In another passage we learn that 
the god is armed with “a thousand bows, a thousand 
arrows, a thousand spears,” with which to crush the skulls 

* These I take to be the names of the horses, like the dogs of 
Marduk. 

t Mihr Yast, No. IX., Darmsteter’s translated Sacred Books of 


the East. 
t Mihr Yast, No. XXXL, ibid. 


RE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 303 


of the Devas. Both the Babylonian poem and the hymn 
of the Zend Avesta belong to a period of advanced 
civilization and luxury, and not to a primitive age. 

The battle now commences, and is described in equally 
poetic terms— 


“¢Stand ! thou and I will soon battle.’ 
When Tiamat heard this she was possessed, she wavered in her plan ; 
She uttered wild cries on high, 
She trembled and shook to her foundations, 
She recited an incantation,* she repeated her spell. 
The gods for battle cried for their weapons. 
Then advanced Tiamat and Marduk, the counsellor of the gods. 
To the fight they came on, to the battle they approached. 
The Lord threw out his net and caught her, 
And cast the evil wind that was behind him in her face. 
As Tiamat opened her mouth to its full extent 
He caused the evil wind to enter ere she closed her lips. 
The burning wind filled her stomach, 
Her courage (heart) was taken from her, her words failed. 
He grasped his spear and burst her belly ; 
He cut in pieces her inward parts, he pierced her heart ; 
He conquered her, and destroyed her life; 
He cast down her body (form) and stood upon it.” 


The next episode is the defeat of the devil host and 
their final bondage. Kingu, the spouse of Tiamat, is 
defeated, and from him Marduk takes the tablets of 
destiny, which make him superior over gods and men. 

“He took from him the Destiny tablets which were not designed for 
him ; 
He sealed them with his own seal, and on his breast he laid them.” 

The tablet ends with the final triumph of the god of 
light— 


“He had full accomplished the triumph of Ansar over the foe. 
Over the captive gods he made strong their durance, 


* Magical incantations and wild cries and witchcraft are on the 
side of the evil Tiamat. 


304 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Then to Tiamat, whom he had conquered, he returned, 
And the Lord stood on her lower part, 
And with his merciless club he crushed her skull.” 


Here we have a rich mass of mythological matter. In 
the main, the story is based on the dawn myth, the daily 
triumph of the sun over the serpent of night, that each 
night coils round the earth—and is defeated by the rising 
sun. This is the seven-headed and seven-tailed serpent 
of night—the serpent of the sea, which is defeated by 
Marduk. This conception throws great light upon the 
curious passage in Genesis, which gives the curse of Yaveh 
upon the serpent. “I will put enmity between thee and 
the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall 
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel ;” or, as the 
marginal reading has, “lie in wait for thy heel.” Here the 
same idea is embodied in the Babylonian epic each day 
the sun-god Marduk defeats the serpent, and “with his 
merciless club crushes her skull,’ as Mithra crushes the 
skulls of the Devas; but as night returns again, and the 
sun sinks to rest, the serpent again creeps on the heel of 
the victory. There is, however, a religious and ethical 
element also. Tiamat, as I have said, represents the old 
magic and demonology—the powers of evil witchcraft and 
sorcery, darkness and wickedness, while Merodach is the 
pure light, the good, white, or benevolent magic, whose 
spells are holy. The captive gods are the fallen angels, 
and the exalted devil Kingu, who usurped the powers and 
the adornments of Bel, is the rebellious Satan. It is this 
element that found its way into Christianity in the war of 
Michael and his angels against the devil and his angels; 
the expression the devil, the old serpent, and Satan used 
in the Apocalypse (Rev. xii. 7, 9), would seem to include 
both Tiamat and Kingu. No satisfactory etymology for 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 305 


Kingu has yet been suggested, but it may have been 
Kingig, “ maker of darkness.” 

The imagery of the Babylonian epic was certainly 
the foundation of the visions of Daniel and the Apocalypse. 
It must be remembered, as Mr. King has shown, that much 
of this story of the dragon myth passed into the late 
astrology current in Babylonia until but a little before the 
Christian era; and tablets date as late as the first century 
B.C. There are references found on astrological tablets ; * 
how much longer the matter survived in folklore we 
cannot tell. 

The dragon myth, however, was not unknown in 
Hebrew literature, although we have no trace in Genesis, 
except in the general record of the creation of light 
(Gen. i. 3, 4); but none of them can be assigned to pre- 
Captivity times. In Isaiah (li. 9)— 

“O arm of the Lord ; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of 
ancient days. 
Art thou not it that cut Rahab in pieces, and pierced the dragon ?” 

Here the writer seems almost to reproduce Babylonian 
phrases, and the passage certainly belongs to the Deutero- 
Isaiah. So also with Psalms (Ixxiv. 13, f.)— 


“ Thou didst divide Tehom by thy strength : 
Thou breakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. 
Thou breakest the heads of leviathan in pieces : 
Thou givest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. 
Thou didst cleave fountain and flood : 
Thou driedst up overflowing rivers. 
The day is thine, the night also is thine: 
Thou hast prepared the illuminator (moon) and the sun. 
Thou hast set all the borders of the earth : 
Thou hast made summer and winter.” 


Here, again, we seem to recognize many phrases 
familiar to us in the Babylonian tablets. The heads of 


* King, “Seven Tablets of Creation,” p. 209. 


306 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Leviathan recall the seven-headed serpent, while the desert 
was the especial abode of devils ; and the reference to the 
creation of sun and moon agrees with the fifth Creation 
tablet, especially the use of the word “illuminator,” or the 
Hebrew 82 being the equivalent of the Babylonian 
Nannar. Especially interesting is the phrase “Thou hast 
set the borders of the earth” in the Babylonian. “He 
created the realm of heaven, and laid out the firm earth” 
(Tab. VII. 115). Psalm 1xxxix. 96 repeats the same ideas, 
As Babylonian myths, such as the story of Eris-kigal 
(“the bride of the pit”) the wife of Nergal, and the story 
of Adapa, have been found at Tel-el-Amarna, in the palace 
of Amenophis IV., therefore dating about the middle of 
the fifteenth century, there is no reason why they should 
not have been known in Palestine, and current among the 
Canaanites when the Hebrews occupied the land. The 
early Hebrew literature shows many distinct traces of 
Babylonian myths borrowed through Canaanite channels, 
such as the legends of Samson, or the story of Saul and 
the witch of Endor; and in all probability the story of 
the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is also a Baby- 
lonian storm myth in Palestinian form. But in the main 
the cosmogony of the Hebrews is free from the dragon 
myth, and when it occurs in the prophets and poetical 
works, its Babylonian affinities are most strikingly apparent. 

A most striking example of Babylonian influence is 
found in the Book of Proverbs (viii. 22-29). In a bilingual 
Creation legend, which originally belonged to the school 
of Eridu, the holy city of Ea, and which had undergone a 
very clumsy re-editing at the hands of Babylonian scribes, 
we have a most astonishing parallel to the Hebrew.* 


* This tablet is given in Mr. King’s tablets, p. 133, and the text in 
“Gunerform Mextsxii. blag s ete. 


THE BEGINNINGS 


HEBREW (Prov. viii. 22-29). 


Yaveh possessed me in the 
beginning of his way, 

Before his works of old. 
was set up from everlasting, 
from the beginning, or ever the 
earth was. 

When there were no depths I was 
brought forth. 

When there were no fountains 
abounding with water, 

Before the mountains were settled, 

Before the hills was I brought 
forth. 

When as yet he had not made 
the earth or the fields, 

Nor the beginning of the dust of 
the world. 

When he established the heavens 
I was there. 

When he set a circle upon the 
face of the deep. 

When he made firm the skies 
above. 


When the fountains of the deep 
became strong. 
When he gave the sea its bound. 


OF LITERATURE 


307 


TABLET. 


The deep had not been created. 


He fashioned the firm earth. 


No reed had sprung up, no tree 
had been created. 

Marduk laid a reed (measure) on 
the face of the waters. 

He made dust and poured it out 
upon the reed. 

On the edge of the sea Marduk 
placed a dam. 

He created the realm of heaven, 
who established for the gods 
the bright heaven. 

All lands were sea. Then in the 
deep there arose a movement. 
Marduk laid a dam around the 

sea. 


The resemblances between these two passages are very 
striking, and would point to a common origin. 

I now come to a tablet which is the most important of 
the whole series—the seventh and last. 

This tablet contains a hymn of praise, which was sung 


by the assembled gods to Marduk after his completion of 
the work. It is, as Mr. King rightly observes, a hymn 
more ancient than the epic which has been edited and 
incorporated in the poem. I do not propose to give a 
translation of the whole of it, but only of the opening 


308 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


portions, which will enable us to see its great value to the 
comparative mythologist. I must here at the commence- 


peta Mg HATE: Ten 
ao5t, OFT NCE ees 
PEG: ae tH roa feat 

pm ste a! 4 


oe nee 
Selanne: = 
vewtart ll AY ae 


SOE ee 


ne aes ain 


Rent 


ee, 
~ oe. 

i 
7 


bce Shes 
Ws 


SEVENTH CREATION TABLET. 


ment express my great admiration at the skill and patience 
which Mr. King has displayed in reconstructing from 


SHE beGINNINGS OF LIRERATURE 309 


many tablets and fragments the text of this most 
important document.* 


“© Asari, bestower of planting, founder of sowing, 

Creator of grain and plants, who caused the green herb to spring up. 

O Asari alim, who is revered in the house of counsel, whose counsel 
is supreme. 

O Asari alim nuna, the mighty one, the light of the father who begat 
him, 

Who directeth the laws of Anu, Bel, and Ea. 

He was their provider ; he directed, 

He whose provision is abundance, 

Tutu, who createth them anew.t 

Should their desires be pure, they shall be satisfied ; 

Should he make an incantation, then are the gods pacified ; 

Should they attack him in anger, he withstandeth their onslaught. 

None among the gods can equal him 

Who established for the gods the bright heaven. 

He set them on the and ordained their paths ; 

Never shall his deeds be forgotten among men. 

Tutu as Zi-azag Hinog they named, the founder of pure life, 

The god of the good wind, the lord of Mercy and Hearing, 

The creator of Fulness and Abundance, the founder of Plenteousness, 

Who turns that which is small to many. 

In sore distress we inhale his favouring breeze. 

Let them pay reverence, let them bow before him. 

Tutu as Aga-azag (Holy Crown) may mankind fondly magnify. 

The lord of the Holy Charm that gives life to the dead, 

Who had mercy on the captive gods, 

Who removed the yoke from the gods his enemies. 

For their forgiveness did he create mankind, 

The merciful one from whom is the state of life ; 

May his deeds endure ; may they never be forgotten 

In the mouth of mankind, whom his hands have made. 

Tutu as Mu-azag, fifthly his ‘Pure incantation hath destroyed all 
the evil ones,’ 

Sag-zu (wise heart), who knoweth the heart of the gods, who seeth 
into the innermost parts (mind), 

The evil-doer goeth not forth with him . 


* The translation of Mr. King is found in “Seven Tablets of 
Creation,” pp. 94-113. 
+ Tutu is Zi-ukkia, “the life of the host (of the gods).” 


310 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


[The tablet now becomes very broken and only isolated epithets 
can be selected, but those are of great importance. | 
Subduer of the unrighteous, Director of Righteousness. 
Who has destroyed all the wicked.” 


Not only have we this tablet in two or three copies, but 
Mr. King has found a large number of fragments of notes 
and commentaries on it, which show that it was very ex- 
tensively studied. Some of these portions belong to the 


BIRS NIMROUD, BORSIPPA. 


Assyrian age (B.C. 668-625), some to the Neo-Babylonian 
empire (B.C. 606-538), some to the Persian and Sassanian, 
showing that this text was most extensively studied. From 
the tablets discovered at Borsippa it appears that there was 
a great literary activity in that centre of learning during 
the latter days of the Neo-Babylonian empire, and also 
during the reigns of Darius and Artaxerxes, the very 
period when the learned Jews would be in close contact 
with the Babylonians ; and we know that Borsippa became 
the seat of a school of Talmudic learning of such im- 
portance that it earned for itself the title of “the eye of 
the law.” The amount of magic folklore and mythology 


Git BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 311 


which passed into Talmudic literature shows that there was 
an intercourse between the Hebrew learned men and those 
of Babylonia. The affinity of language, and we might say 
the affinity of religion—for during the last days of the 
Babylonian empire the creed was almost Monotheism, all 
being centred in Marduk—would lead to a reciprocity of 
ideas. In this tablet we see much that resembles Hebrew 
teaching. Marduk is the god of the pure and holy; he 
loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity ; he is the creator 
of all, comforting the weak and afflicted ; and all-wise, 
knowing the innermost thoughts of the heart. It is little 
wonder that the Jews were helped to develop the crude 
ideas of the tribal Yaveh they had carried into the higher 
plane of the national Yaveh and his chosen people, temple 
and city, with such teaching as is contained in this hymn 
around them; little wonder that the fiery trial and the 
intellectual intercourse of the Captivity produced one of 
the most astonishing changes in a nation’s life that the 
world has ever seen! In this hymn to Marduk we read— 


“Look favourably upon thy temple ; 
Look favourably upon thy city ; 
May he restore to his place the bolt of Babylon and the precincts of 
E Sagila (temple of Marduk). 
Look favourably upon the people of Babylon, whom thou lovest.” 
The secret of the extraordinary change which came 
over the Hebrew people after the Captivity is now not 
difficult to explain. They saw that the secret of the 
immense success and vitality of the Babylonian empire lay 
in the centralization of a secular and religious life in the 
capital. Babylon was the dwelling-place of the nation’s 
god, the source of all government ; so Jerusalem and the 
temple became the focus of all the vital elements of Judaism. 
By his policy of centralization, instituted more than eighteen 


ene THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


centuries prior to the fall of Babylon, Khammurabi had 
laid the foundations of the first of empires on a basis 
which made it able to outlive all empires, and, even after 
its downfall, to so powerfully influence its conquerors as 
to leave an indelible mark on all the world’s history. 

But the Jews were not the only persons who were 
influenced by Babylonian literary culture. Under the 
Persians, the Greeks, and the Sassanians, literature and 
learning still flourished. I have already noticed some 
striking resemblances between the demonology of Baby- 
lonia and that of the Zoroastrian creed, and this seventh 
tablet affords some interesting parallels with the worship 
of Auramazda. Auramazda, “the all-wise god,” the creator 
of heaven and earth, bears a striking resemblance to Ea, 
the “all-wise” culture-god of the Babylonians, whose 
epithets, titles, and powers were transferred to the great 
god Marduk. In this tablet we had, when complete, the 
fifty names of Marduk, resembling the hundred names 
of Allah in the Koran. Now, attached to the Avestic 
Auramazda were certain minor divinities, really personifica- 
tions of the attributes of Auramazda. These were known 
as the Amesha Cpentas, “the holy immortals;” these 
were the gods of “good disposition,” truth or law, wisdom, 
wealth, and delight of the beautiful. All of these we 
find in the epithets applied to Marduk in this hymn, 
and it is not improbable that this theology of the school 
of Babylon was known to the Zend scholars, who committed 
the Avestic to writing in the time of the Arcaside. We 
must remember that, under the Achzemanian kings, true 
Zoroastrianism had not certainly attained to the elaborate 
theology which was developed in later times, and the 
religion of the Persian inscriptions of Behistun and 
Persepolis is of a very crude and simple form. 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 313 


I have left the Creation tablets proper until the end of 
this chapter, because in many respects they are the least 
important portion of the epic; there being only two, the 
fifth, which records the creation of the heavenly bodies, 
and the small fragment of the sixth, which records the 
creation of man. 


FIFTH CREATION TABLET. 


The translation is as follows :— 


He made the stations of the great gods, 

The stars, their forms, as the stars of the Zodiac he fixed ; 
He placed the year, and into sections he divided it. 

For the twelve months he fixed three stars. 

From the day the year begins, as. . . forms. 

He fixed the station of Nibiri to determine their bounds ; 
That none might err or go astray, 

He set the stations of Bel and Ea along with him. 

He opened great gates on both sides, 

He made strong the bolt on the right and on the left, 

In the midst thereof he fixed the zenith. 


314 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


The Moon-god he caused to shine forth; he entrusted to him the 
night. 

He appointed him, a creature of night, to determine the days. 

Every month without ceasing by his disk he regulated, 

(Saying to him), ‘ In the beginning of the month, when thou shinest 
on the land, 

Light thou the horns, to determine six days ; 

On the seventh day . . . the disk, 

On the fourteenth day thou shalt equal the half, 

When the Sun-god on the horizon of heaven.’ ” 

Here the parallel with the Hebrew account in Genesis 
i. I4-19 is very close, but there are some important 
differences. The order of the works of the Creator are 
exactly the opposite of those in the Hebrew. In the 
Babylonian it is stars, moon, sun; in the Hebrew, sun, 
moon, and stars. The Babylonians were a race of astrono- 
mers, and knew that it was by the constellations that the 
paths of the heavenly bodies were measured. As in the 
Hebrew, the moon was to rule the night. The mention 
of the star Nibiri Mr. King regards as referring to the 
planet Jupiter, but I am inclined to think that here we 
have the crossing stars, or “ the ferry boats,” like the four 
solar boats on the Zodiac of Denderah that mark the 
solstices and equinoxes. The gates through which the 
heavenly bodies passed are often mentioned in the hymns, 
and we find them in the Book of Enoch also. 

Passing now to the sixth tablet, of which Mr. King 
has found a small fragment, we come to the culminating 
work of creation—that of man. 

In the Hebrew legends we have two accounts of the 
creation of man. According to the Elohistic writer, man 
is created in the image of God (Gen. i. 27), and no specific 
detail is given of the act of creation. This making in 
the image of God implies a sonship, and one of the most 
common phrases in the religious texts is “man, the son 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 315 


of his God.” In the account of the Yahavist writer, man 
is created by a definite act and for a specific purpose. 
“And Yaveh formed man out of the dust of the ground, 
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and 
man became a living soul” (Gen. ii. 7) ; and the specific 
purpose for which he was created was to till the ground, 
and especially the garden of Yaveh. Fortunately, we 
possess more than one Creation legend in the religious 
literature of Babylonia. The account in the sixth tablet 
here— 
“That plan which he (Marduk) had conceived he imparted to (Ea). 

My blood will I take, and my bones will I fashion. 

I will make man ; 


I will create man, who shall inhabit the earth, 
That the service of the gods may be ordained and shrines founded.” 


Here man is created for the specific purpose of per- 
pertual worship of the gods. The sonship of man is 
implied in the blood covenant which was established 
between the Creator and himself. According to Berosus, 
man was formed by the head of Bel being cut off, and the 
blood being mingled with the earth, man and the animals 
were created. In other forms of Babylonian mythology 
the creation of man was especially associated with Ea, 
and indeed in the seventh tablet, where the creation of 
man and the human race are attributed to Marduk, it is 
only by his inheriting the prerogatives of Ea. We notice 
in this fragment that Marduk submits his plan to Ea. 
Here we have the phrase, “In the mouth of mankind, 
whom his hands have made.’ In a hymn to Marduk 
(IV. R. 29, 1), the work of creation is also implied as 
being that of this god. Mankind, the human race (black- 
heads), and living creatures, as many as there are and exist 
on earth, “are thine,” that is, “ owe their being to thee.” 


316 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


In the bilingual Sumerian and Semitic tablet, originally 

a document of the school of Ea of Eridu, we have a valuable 
passage. It reads, “(Then) he 
created mankind; the goddess 
Aruru together with him (the 
god) created the race of man- 
kind; the beasts of the field 
and living creatures he formed.” 
The goddess Aruru is known to 
us from the third tablet of the 
epic of Gilgames, where, together 
with Ea, she creates the Satyr- 
like companion of the hero called 
Ea-bani (the creation of Ea). 
Here we read, “ Aruru upon this 
forms a divine man (in the 
image of God?). Aruru washed 
her hands; she took a piece of 
clay and cast it upon the ground, 
and created Ea-bani.” We see, 
then, that both versions of the 
creation of man in the Hebrew 
NEBO, THE SCRIBE-GOD. Genesis have their counterparts 

in the literature of Babylonia. 

It is now time to generally consider the relation of the 
Babylonian and Hebrew literatures. The Tel-el-Amarna 
tablets show how great was Babylonian influence in 
Syria and Western Asia from about B.C. 2000 to about 
B.C. 1300. In most of the towns of Syria, Phcenicia, and 
Palestine were scribes who could read and write cuneiform. 
Their learning could not have been writing confined to 
secular literature, and at least some of them must have 
learned from Babylonian masters. The names of places 


THE BEGINNINGS OF LITERATURE 317 


embodying the names of Babylonian divinities, such as 
Nebo, Anatum (Anathoth), Lakhmu, as in Bethlehem, 
Dagon and others, show how this influence was spread 
over the land. When the Hebrews conquered the land 
this influence could not have entirely been obliterated, and 
much legend and folklore lived on among the Canaanites. 
The laws of commerce were Babylonian, and probably the 
code of Khammurabi was in force in Canaanite tribunals. 
The Hebrews borrowed largely of this stock of culture ; 
the echoes of the Gilgames epic, the deluge, and dragon 
myths, and some form of cosmogony, would be accessible 
to them. When, during the Exilic and post-Exilic times, 
there was direct intercourse with the wise men of Chaldea, 
these traditions would be revised, edited, and systematized. 
This is especially the case with the priestly Elohistic tra- 
ditions, which bear the imprint of the temple library. It 
was this influence which led to the prominence given to 
the Sabbath, for, although the Sabbath was a Babylonian 
institution, it was confined to the temple and the priestly 
king ; we have no trace of it in civil life, or have we any 
trace of the week. Everything points to the vast influence 
of Babylonia both in pre- and post-Captivity times on the 
literary development of the Hebrews. 

A great point has been made of the discovery of the 
Tel-el-Amarna letters in Egypt, and we are told that they 
afford proof that Moses must have been able to study the 
primitive legends of Chaldea from cuneiform documents. 
There is not the slightest evidence of this. All the tablets 
from Tel-cl-Amarna, with one exception, the copy of a 
letter to the Babylonian king, were documents which have 
been written in other lands and sent to Egypt. There 
have been no such documents found anywhere else than 
at Tel-el-Amarna, and by the time of Rameses II., the 


318 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Pharaoh of Moses, the palace and city of Khuenaten was 
probably in ruins. It is doubtful if Moses ever saw a 
cuneiform document, still less read one. By the time 
that the Israelites conquered Canaan the Creto-Philistine 
influence was beginning to bear fruit, and the cuneiform 
was rapidly being replaced by a more cursive script. 
There may have been a knowledge of cuneiform still 
current among some of the scribes, but its general use as 
in the fifteenth century had ceased. The use of clay as 
a medium for writing may have continued, but the writing 
was probably a cursive script of Creto-Phcenician origin, 
as is used on the tablets from Knossos ; this writing also 
would be unknown to Moses. ; 

The more we examine the cosmic and other Genesio 
legends of the Hebrews, the more convincing is the proof 
of their indebtedness to Babylonia, first, from the earlier 
traditions of the school of Eridu, received through a 
Canaanite medium, and, later, to a direct intellectual 
association during the Exile and for long after with the 
priests and doctors of Chaldea. 


: ANS. 
SL ER HN Qk I HK RY) QF eye TER 
Voor YE A SS EY --1< Ey = EET ED. 


TRANSCRIPT. 


“Tlu ameli ri’ um mus&s-te’ u ri-ta ana ameli, Sa ili-su 
ana ku-ru-um-ma-ti i z-ba-tu su.” 


TRANSLATION. 


“The God of Man is a Shepherd, Who seeketh pasture 
for the man, Whose God leadeth him to food.” (Compare 
Psalm xxiii.) 


APPENDIX A 


BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN ART IN 
REEATION TO VEGYPYT 


ments which were introduced into Egypt by the immigrants 

from the East, and the majority of these are such as would 

have appeared to have originated in the Mesopotamian 
valley or in the regions adjacent thereto. 

There has, until recent years, been very little means of com- 
paring early Egyptian and Chaldean art, for until the important 
explorations of M. de Morgan at Nagada, and of M. Amélineau 
and Professor Petrie at Abydos, there was nothing of Egyptian art 
older than the Fourth Dynasty (B.c. 3700), when art was very 
far advanced, and had become to a certain extent stereotyped. 
The important excavations made in 1898 by Mr. Quibell at 
El Ahmar, the ancient Hieraconpolis, however, resulted in the 
discovery of a number of art remains of a class hitherto quite 
unknown, and displaying a style of work quite different from that 
of the early dynastic times. 

From the prehistoric tombs of Ballas and Nagada the ex- 
plorers had obtained numbers of curious amulets in the form 
of thin plates of shale or slate, cut into the forms of animals— 
hippopotami, crocodiles, sheep, birds, turtles, fish, and other 
forms. These were not, as M. de Morgan suggests, amulets 
buried with the dead. Some appear, as Professor Petrie suggests, 
to have been buried with the dead for toilet purposes, being used 
as paint rubbers ; but I doubt if this was their real import. The 
recent discoveries at El Fara in Babylonia of a very ancient 
cemetery of the pre-Sargonide age, that is, about the time of the 

319 


| HAVE already described in Chapter III. the main improve- 


320 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


beginning of dynastic Egypt, show that paints were buried with 
the dead. The large jars of fat found in the tombs in Egypt 
show that oil or fat was considered a toilet requisite which the 
departed would require ; and, as I have already stated, oil was 
buried with the Babylonian dead. 

The employment of slate or shale for artistic purposes, how- 
ever, underwent a very considerable development in the ages 
immediately preceding the age of Mena. At Hieraconpolis a 


SLATE TABLET OF NARMER. 


OBVERSE. REVERSE. 


number of large slate plaques, sculptured on both sides with 
scenes, were found by M. Quibell and other explorers, and are 
now in the Museums of London, Paris, and Cairo.* These 
curiously decorative objects represent the earliest Egyptian art, 
and are unique both in execution and conception. 


* A valuable paper on these “ Slate Tablets,” with illustrations of 
all known fragments by Mr. E. Legge, will be found in the Proceedings 
of the Society of Biblical Archeology, vol. xxii. (1900). 


AOS IN IDI. AV 321 


Firstly, we must notice the general arrangement of the scenes 
on the obverse of the plaque. Like the early Chaldean stele, 
such as the Stele of the Vultures, it is arranged in tiers, each 
dealing with some special incident. The upper portion of both 
obverse and reverse is surmounted by two heads of the sacred 
cow, symbolical of the goddess Hathor. Now, Hathor was 
essentially a goddess of the East to the Egyptians, and with 
Isis she shared the special vé/e of mother goddess. Her name 


(Xd. Het Heru, “ House of Horus,” that is, the “womb that 


bore Horus,” seems also to have a foreign origin. It must be 
remembered that in early dynastic times in Egypt Horus, not the 
youthful Horus, the “ Heru-pa-ywrat,” ‘‘ Horus the Child,” or 
Horus the son of Isis, was the chief god—that is, Horus the old 
hawk sky-god. As the mother of Horus, the sky-goddess Hathor 
stood at the head of the female divinities, and her name, or 
rather its ideographic representation, bears a curious resemblance 
to the name of the mother in Babylonian—that is, ypql, 
“‘house-god,” or ‘ goddess of the house,” but also ‘‘the womb as 
the abode of the god.” Hathor was the goddess of the East, where 
she was the protectress of mines and mountains, and especially 
when associated with “Supt,” the hawk whose figure is sculptured 
over the mines and quarries in Egypt and Sinai. She bears a 
close resemblance in this respect to the Sumerian goddess Nin 
Kharsag, “the lady of the mountain,” one of the earliest female 
divinities of Chaldea. As Hathor and the Hathors nursed the 
ancient Pharaohs, so the earliest kings of Babylonia claimed to 
be nourished by the milk of the goddess Nin Kharsag, “the 
lady of the mountain.” The Hathor heads on this plaque remind 
one of the demons’ heads on the curious bronze funeral tablets 
which I shall describe shortly. The false door, in which is 


inscribed the royal name Nar-mer & p. would seem to 


indicate the funereal character of the plaque. 
Passing to the second tier, we have a more elaborate tableau, 
representing, as M. Naville says, a festival, possibly that of Shes 


Heru (j \28): or “ followers of Horus,” a name given to the 
Eastern immigrants into Egypt. The arrangement of this tableau 
Ww 


322 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


calls to mind the group on the plaques of Ur Nina (see p. 47). 
The most prominent figure in the scene is that of the king, who 
wears on his head the red crown of Northern Egypt. He is dressed 
in a tunic, fastened on the left shoulder, and leaving the right 
arm bare. Over this a kilt, secured by a broad belt, fringed 
and decorated with a woven cord pattern. From the belt hangs 
behind a long tail of hair, the origin and symbolism of which is 
still obscure, although it survived until later times in Egypt. He 
wears greaves on his legs, but no shoes. Both on obverse and 
reverse his sandal-bearer is represented as following him. On 
the obverse, in his right hand he holds a scourge of three thongs, 
and in his left a knob-headed mace. The group, which is partly 
duplicated on the reverse, is evidently the standard from which 
the representations of the Pharaohs were derived. As I have 
already said, the sculptures of Naram Sin and Annubanini, the 
King of the Lububini, set the model for all the rock sculptures 
of Western Persia, until almost the Christian Era, so this group 
is repeated in all the victory tablets of the Egyptians. The 
scourge which the king holds in his hand, afterwards replaced 


by the whip ( 4\): Xu, held alike by men and gods, recalls the 


epithet applied to the Babylonian Sumerian kings of ‘‘ Scourge of 
Sun-god.” The mace is, of course, common to Egypt, Babylonia, 
and pre-historic Susa, but on this point I shall have more to say. 
- Behind the king is his sandal-bearer, who carries also in his hand 
a libation vase, with a spout, which calls to mind the libation 
vase of the nude figure in the stele of Ur Nina (p. 47). Before 
the king is a female figure, possibly, as M. Naville suggests, 


the queen, and above her head the name Thet Gs Before 


this female walk four standard-bearers, as the standard-bearers 
follow Naram Sin in the Susa monuments (p. 129). Two standards 
are hawk-headed, and may represent the hawks of Upper and 
Lower Egypt, or the bittern of Hieraconpolis, with which we may 
compare the hawk or eagle talons of Nin Sugir, carried by him 
on the Stele of the Vultures, or on the mace of E-Annadu. The 
other two are the jackal of Anubis and the emblem of Khensu. 
All the standard-bearers are bearded, except the one who bears 
the standard of Khensu. As Khensu was the young moon, the 
child, a beardless youth, may have been his standard-bearer. 


APPENDIX “A 323 


The procession is making its way to a group of ten headless 
corpses, with the decapitated heads placed between the feet. 
The suggestion made by Mr. F. Legge, that this represents a 
human sacrifice, is worthy of careful consideration, ‘The mas- 
sacre of the defeated by E-Annadu, represented on the Stele 
of the Vultures, where they are enclosed in a huge net, 
and being brained by the king, was most certainly a victor’s 
holocaust. 

The next tier is a mythological or grotesque tableau. In the 
centre are two panthers (not lions), with grotesquely elongated 
necks twisted round the centre orifice of the plaque. There is 
a somewhat similar group in Plate II. of the same paper, where 
we have lions whose elongated necks terminate in serpents’ heads. 
These curious composite animals are not unknown to Babylonian 
art, and M. Leon Heuzey has found one curious seal which 
presents an almost similar group.* On archaic seals, too, from 
Chaldea, these grotesque animals are frequently represented.t 
Both in Egypt and Chaldea grotesque animal forms figure 
frequently in the magical texts, and are represented on such 
monuments and the boundary-stones, which are inscribed with 
imprecatory formulz against those who injure these important 
monuments. 

The next tier represents a curious scene—a huge bull, no 
doubt, symbolical of the king in his title of “ divine bull,” attack- 
ing a town, the walls of which he is goring down with his horns. 
Here, again, there seems to be a parallel to Babylonian ideas— 
the kings assumed the title of “mighty or furious bull” (da 
ikdu), while Khammurabi calls himself ‘the mighty bull who gores 
his foes” (p. 165, para. xiv.). With regard to the reverse, there is 
little which calls for comment, as it is more Egyptian in character, 
and forms the type of all the victorious royal monuments of the 
Egyptian empire. 

Among the slate tablets from Hieraconpolis is one fragment 
which is especially interesting for its correspondence to Babylonian 
art of the earliest period. ‘This fragment represents a battle-field, 
where the slain are being devoured by lions and vultures, and 

* Comptes Rendu de Ll Academie des Inscriptions (January, 


February, 1899), Quarterly Series, t. xxvii. p. 61, sgg. 
t Menant, “Art Glyptique,” Nos. 38, rot. 


324 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


when we compare it with a scene on the Stele of the Vultures, the 
similarity of treatment is most striking. Here, as Mr. Legge 
remarks, the enemy are distinctly African or negro in type, and 
the scene may represent the driving of those people from the Nile 
valley. In the Babylonian scene the corpses are beheaded, but in 
the Egyptian the bodies are not mutilated. We must remember 
the Babylonian dread of the unburied dead made mutilation and 
neglect of burial a terrible punishment, which excluded the soul 
of the deceased from rest in the next world. 

It may be mentioned also that the treatment of the lion in 
this ancient Egyptian fragment is remarkably Babylonian in 
style, and not like the general Egyptian representations of that 
animal. 


SLATE TABLET FROM HIERACONPOLIS, 


I regret very much that I have been unable to obtain a 
photograph of the Stele of the Vultures, as many more points of 
similarity between early Babylonian and Egyptian art might be 
indicated. The fragment of the monument which represents the 
slain mutilated and devoured by vultures certainly bears a close 
resemblance to the Egyptian plaque. This association of the 
vulture with battle carnage continued to Assyrian times, and 
figures of vultures flying over the battle-fields are to be found on 
the sculptures of Assurnazirpal (B.c. 885), from his palace at 
Nimroud, in the British Museum. 

Another point of resemblance or possible association between 
Babylonian and Egyptian art is found in the ivory carvings, 


APPENDIX A 325 


Among the objects found at Abydos and Nagada are a number of 
ivory feet, used for caskets or for models, of the funeral couch of 
Osiris. These are in most cases bulls’ feet, though sometimes 
lions’ feet bear a marked resemblance to the Assyrian and Baby- 


FRAGMENTS OF THE STELE OF THE VULTURES, 


lonian feet of these animals, used for furniture. It is to be noted 
that the throne of Osiris in heaven was said to have “the feet of 


a bull,” like the god Se-maur. 
To sum up the general results of these notes. Although we 


326 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


can in no way show a direct intercourse between the time of 
Narmer and the rulers whose art remains are found at Hiera- 
conpolis, yet there are many features in the work which are not 
Egyptian, and in the majority of cases these are also to be found 
in Babylonian art of a nearly contemporary age. 


IVORY FEET OF FUNERAL COUCHES FROM ABYDOS. 


APPENDIX B 
FOUNDATION CEREMONIES 


MONG all the nations of antiquity the ceremony of the 
foundation of a building, whether a private house, a 
palace, or a temple, was a work of great importance, and 
attended with a distinct ceremonial. For the erection 

of a private building we know that the first step was the erection 
of a shrine to the family god, thereby taking possession of the 
327 


328 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


land and consecrating it to the domestic deity. This custom 
resembles that of the Hebrew patriarchs, who, on halting at any 
place in their wanderings, at once erected upon the spot an altar 
to Yaveh, as in the case of Abram (Gen. xii. 8) at Bethel. In the 
case of royal or sacred edifices the ceremonial was of a more 
elaborate character. The ritual of the foundation ceremonial was 
established at a very early period, certainly as far back as the age 
of Gudea (B.c. 2800), who gives minute details of the foundation 
of the temple of Nin-Sugir at Sirpurra, and there appears to have 
been little variation of it (except in grandeur) during the whole 
period of the Babylonian empire. Recent discoveries at Nippur, 
especially the discovery of a cylinder of Nabupalassar (B.c. 625— 
606), which describes the restoration of the temple of Marduk, 
throw much valuable light upon the subject, and enable us to 
explain much of the ceremonial ; and also, for the-first time, to 
ascertain the use of certain curious statues found in the lower 
courses of the walls of Babylonian temples and palaces. In the 
foundations at Tello or Sirpurra, at Sippara, and other cities, there 
are often found small statuettes representing a semi-nude figure 
bearing on its head a basket filled with some substance. These 
canephori have hitherto not been explained, but we now are able 
to ascertain their use. ‘The fine stele which heads this section 
represents Assurbanipal performing the foundation ceremonies 
connected with his restorations of the temple E-Sagila—the 
temple of Marduk. The king is stripped to the waist, and bears 
on his head a large basket. This ceremony is well explained by 
the inscription of Nabupalassar, mentioned above. This temple 
was called E-TEMEN AN-KI, “the House of the Foundation of 
Heaven and Earth.” ‘Thus the king speaks — 

“Then on that day the House of the Foundation of Heaven 
and Earth, the stage-tower of Babylon, which from old time had 
decayed and fallen, its foundation was on the surface of the deep, 
from the basement to the summit I raised it. Marduk, my lord, 
spake to me (various words). With ivory (elephants’ teeth), hard 
wood, and palm wood, this I made. Many workmen, the 
corvee of my land, I raised ; with clay I caused bricks to be made, 
and fashioned burnt bricks. Like unto the summit of heaven, 
without count bitumen and mortar, by the river Arakhtu I caused 
to be carried. 


APPENDIX B 329 


“ By the skill of Ea, by the wisdom of Marduk and the deep 
knowledge of Nabu and Nissaba, with many bricks, for the god 
my creator I caused it to be done, and for my great project I 
founded it. 

“ Skilled workmen I urged on... . 

** By the magical knowledge and wisdom of Ea and Marduk 
that holy place I made splendid, and in the primeval deep placed 
its foundation. Gold, silver, and stones (products) of mountain 
and sea in its foundation I deposited, precious... pure oil, milk, 
and honey beneath the bricks I poured. 

“A statue of my royal self, carrying a basket, in the foundation 
I placed. 

“To Marduk, my lord, I bowed my neck, and the robe, the 
covering of my majesty, I laid aside; bricks and clay on my head 
I carried. 

“ Nebuchadnezzar, my first-born son, the beloved of my heart, 
brought clay; wine, oil, and blue stone, with my workmen, I 
caused him to carry. 

“ Nabu-Sum-li-sir, his own brother, the flesh-begotten of my 
body, his junior, my beloved, woods I caused him to carry; a 
basket of gold and silver I placed, and to Marduk, my lord, as 
presents I gave.” 

Here, then, we have the explanation of the canephoric figures. 
They represent the king taking part, as a workman, in the founda- 
tion of the temple of his god. This explanation is extremely 
interesting, because we find exactly the same ceremonies in use in 
Egypt. On the walls of the temples at Denderah and Edfu we 
have depicted the ceremonial of laying the foundation of the 
temple. Although these scenes belong to the Roman age, they 
depict the same ceremonial which had been in use from the 
earliest Pharaonic times. We see the king breaking the ground, 
making the first brick for the terminus wall, mingling the clay 
with incense, and pouring out libations over the stones.* Here 
we have probably another ceremonial introduced by the brick- 
building people from Asia. We gain many more interesting 
details as to the foundation ceremonies from other inscriptions, 
notably from those of Gudea. 

As became a people so addicted to magic as the ancient 


* Dumiechen, “ Bau Inschrifen von Denderah and Edfu.” 


330 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Sumerians, it was of the utmost importance to select a propitious 
day for laying the foundation, and the favourite month seems to 
have been the brick-making month of Sivan (May-June), when 
the clay deposits were moist for brick-making. This was the 
month when Sargon II. laid the foundation of his new palace, 
Dur-Sargina, at Khorsabad. There was first the casting of 
omens to select a fortunate month and a propitious day in that 
month. In the omen calendars in the British Museum we have 
references to certain days being favourable or unfavourable for 
building operations. In the inscriptions of Gudea we are told 
that he selected a propitious day in the beginning of the year. 
The day was a public feast, and we are told that for ‘seven 
days obedience was not exacted, and the slave was the master 
and mistress.” The expression used in the Assyrian inscrip- 
tions, that the ceremonies were accomplished with “music and 
joy and gladness,” also denotes the public character of the 
festival. One of the most curious features was the expulsion 
of all evil-disposed persons from the city. We read, “ He puri- 
fied the city and cleansed it; he laid the foundations of the 
temple, and deposited the foundation cylinder. The servants 
of demons, those who invoked the dead, the witches, he banished 
from the city.” Another care was taken that no burial was to 
take place at the time of the ceremony. These precautions 
show how deeply the idea of magic lay at the basis of the 
ceremony. This same superstition was found in Egypt, where 
it is more fully explained. In almost all the great temples of 
Nile-land heaps of foundation deposits are found. ‘These consist 
of small specimens of all the materials used in the building— 
models of tools used in the work of construction. The Egyptians 
believed that all these objects possessed a 4a, or spirit, as did 
also the temple itself, and they believed also that these materials 
and tools would spiritually minister to the restoration of the 
temple. Some such idea seems to have been current in Baby- 
lonia and Assyria. For this reason the materials carried in the 
baskets were placed in the foundations ; and Sargon placed small 
votive tablets of gold, silver, copper, lead, marble, and alabaster 
below the floors of the palace at Khorsabad. The small clay 
tools found by Mr. Taylor at Abu Sharain or Eridu, that is, 
adzes, nails, hammers, etc., were probably a foundation deposit 


APPENDIX B 331 


like those of the Egyptian temples; but this is not certain until 
some more systematic exploration of Babylonian temples is 
undertaken. 

Another interesting custom was the burial of certain statues 
of gods, either beneath the threshold or in the walls, to protect 
the edifices. Thus we find statues—small teraphim figures— 
of Bel, Ea, and the fire-god placed in the foundations at Sirpurra 
and Khorsabad. In the magical texts these are often referred 
to, while the custom seems to have been borrowed by the Jews, 
who placed small pieces of parchment, on which the Holy Name 
or certain portions of Scripture were written, above their doors or 
in the side walls. The same custom survives among the Arabs 
to this day in Aleppo Damascus, Bagdad, and other truly Oriental 
towns. Perhaps it is to the same superstition that we can trace 
the Christian custom of placing statues of saints around the doors 
of churches and cathedrals. 

The majority of the foundation ceremonial, in so far as it 
relates to magic, is to be traced to the old Animistic creed of 
the Sumerian population, who lived in constant dread of evil 
spirits and demons, who could creep through crevices and cracks 
in the walls, whom no bolt or bar could exclude. Other customs, 
such as the sacrifice of victims and sprinkling the ‘stone or 
foundation cylinder with their blood, the anointing with oil, wine, 
or honey, are rather to be ascribed to the Semites. One inte- 
resting custom referred to in the ritual tablets, which was espe- 
cially designed to protect the palace or any house, was the 
sacrifice of a lamb and the sprinkling of the door-posts and lintel 
with its blood, which calls to mind the Hebrew paschal sacrifice 
and the marking of the houses with the blood. One important 
point must be noticed—we do not see any trace of human sacrifice 
in connection with foundation ceremonials, which certainly are 
found among more savage nations. The solution of the use of 
these curious canephoric statues is now found, and it brings with 
it many interesting illustrations of customs not extinct even at 
the present time. 


APPENDIX C 
THE LEGEND OF DEATH 


Beyrout a curious bronze plaque said to have been found 

at Hamah, the ancient Hamath, on which was represented 

a series of scenes representing the Babylonian legend of 
death. This interesting object has now passed into the collection 
of M. de Clerq of Paris, and has often been figured in works on 
Babylonian art. Although the tablet is certainly in Babylonian 
style, I have still much doubt as to its being essentially Baby- 
lonian. Recently a duplicate, which Dr. Schiel regards as being 
older, has been found at Zerghil, near to Tello; but still this 
does not seem to me to confirm its great antiquity. 

The reverse of the tablet is occupied by a fine representation 
of a Babylonian demon with a dog or lion’s body terminating in 
the claws of a bird. The figure has four wings, and, standing 
erect, grasps with its arms the top of the tablet and shows its 
grinning lion’s head over the top. The figure, like most Baby- 
lonian deities and demons, has two pairs of wings. In the 
Zerghul duplicate the angles of the obverse are terminated in 
two grotesque demon’s heads, like the Hathor heads on the tablet 
of Narmer. 

On the obverse we have a series of scenes arranged in five 
tiers or parallel bands. 

In the first we have the emblems of the gods. The horned 
cap, usually the emblem of Bel; the serpent-headed staff, the 
caduceus of Nebo or Ea; the thunderbolt of Adad or Rimman, 
the solar dish, the crescent moon of Istar, and the seven planets 
—perhaps the Kabiri. One point which seems to me to indicate 

332 


| the year 1879 I saw in the collection of M. Peretie of 


APPENDIX C 333 


Pe) 


the fact that the plaque does not belong to the early Chaldean 
age, is the introduction of the winged disk, such as we find in 


7 
ae) 


WYSMMIG 
Ik gil Wy 
\ 2 LEE 2 ZY 
\ 5-4 FU ee Gres 
ee ~ a 
: Wij: Z Wy 
: es 


a 


Ms 


ai 


bolas 


) 


\ 
| 


i Sh: V/, 
< 
bs 


{ 
NK 


ir Se C S= 
es =z yj? Meg Li, =. — =. 
ae. tif YY Wy Mi } Ee , ay J\ 
ae Uy, Ue re 6 eS 
WEENIE yy Ld he i 


TTA GE Same EN UNC 


BABYLONIAN BRONZE FUNERAL TABLET. 


the Assyrian sculptures of the ninth century, and of which I do 
not know an example earlier. 


In the second tier we have a group of seven animal-headed 


334 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


figures, with their right hands raised in a threatening manner. 
The sculpture is too mutilated for us to recognize the animals’ 
heads, but we can certainly see a serpent, and also a bird-headed 
figure. These are certainly the seven demons, “the offspring of 
Arali,” the grave, who figure so prominently in the magical texts, 
and who were the opponents of the gods and the implacable foes 
of man both in this world and the next. 

The third tier is perhaps the most interesting of all, as it 
represents a religious or magical scene. 

In the centre of the scene is the funeral couch, on which is 
the body of a man wrapped in linen bandages like an Egyptian 
mummy. At the head and foot stand fish-headed creatures, either 
priests of Ea or his ministers. One of these holds in his hand 
a branch, probably that of a tamarisk—which was so extensively 
used in Babylonian magic. The two appear to have been per- 
forming some ceremony to bring the dead back to life, for it is to 
be noticed that the head of the supposed dead body is raised. 
Behind the figure at the head is a small pedestal, on which are 
apparently some burning objects, no doubt to be used in the 
working of the spell. 

We now come to a very interesting group, in the right-hand 
corner of the tier. Here we have two lion-headed demons, who 
appear to be engaged in an angry altercation. ‘These, no doubt, 
are the demons who have been expelled from the body, and 
behind them is a small bearded figure. This I take to be the 
chkimmu, the ka, or some double of the deceased which has been 
separated or taken from the body by death, and over which the 
struggle between the priests of Ea and the demon is being waged. 

The fourth tier is full of matter of weird interest. On the 
left is a lion-headed, winged, and bird-footed demon, similar to 
that which is represented on the reverse. This I take to be 
Namtar, the demon of death. The most important figure in the 
group is in the centre. We have,here a huge female figure, 
lion-headed and bird-clawed, who grasps in her hand two ser- 
pents and suckles at her breast two young lions. It is a strange, 
complex figure such as only religio-magic cones produce, and 
certainly at variance with the work of very ancient Babylonian 
times. In the De Clerq tablet the figure is represented standing 
on the back of a horse, but this is omitted in the Zerghul tablet. 


APPENDIX C 335 


The whole group is standing in a boat with elevated prow and 
stern, the former of which terminates in a serpent’s head, the 
latter in a bull’s head. 

This curious creation-is certainly to be identified with Allat, 
or Eris-kigal,* the wife of Nergal, the god of the dead, or ruler 
of the city of the dead. His name means “‘lord of the city of the 
dead,” or “the great city,” while her name means “ bride of the 
pit ;” and we know from the tablet of the descent of Istar into 
the under-world that Namtar was her special messenger. As 
Nergal had for his symbol the lion, so she is represented as a 
“lioness,” or a “ woman-lion.” One of the names of Nergal was 
“ Tr-kalla,” the great eater, reminding us of the riddle of Samson. 

The most important feature in the group which enables us to 
approximately settle the date is the “horse” on which the god- 
dess stands, and the horse-hoof which appears among the funeral 
offerings. We have no mention of the horse as a domesticated 
animal until the time of Khammurabi, and then it was especially 
used for war; in fact, its usual epithet was “the horse glorious 
in war” (za@’id ina gabli). Horses are mentioned in the magical 
texts, but here they appear as strange wild animals, to which 
the demons are compared. ‘‘ They are horses reared among the 
hills,” | and the Sumerian name of the horse is ‘‘ the ass of the 
mountains or East.” The earliest representation of the horse is 
in a curious pegasus figure on a boundary store of Meti-sikhu in 
the British Museum, dating, therefore, about B.c. 1300. On the 
boundary stone of Nebuchadnezzar I. (B.c. 1120) there is a horse- 
god figured on a stele as the god of the horse-breeding district of 
Namar and the city of Bit-kazi-yatSu, in Eastern Elam, so I should 
not place this plaque later than B.c. 1500 to B.C. 1800 at the 
most. 

The offerings spread out show that we have the funeral stele 
of a warrior. The quiver and the horse’s foot can clearly be dis- 
tinguished ; while a wine-jar, and beer-jar, and flat cake of bread, 
recall the Egyptian funeral offerings. 

The river on which the barque of the dread goddess floats is 
the river of death, Datilla, which circled the outer wall of the 


* A tablet relating to Eris-kigal was found at Tel-el-Amarna, and 
Mr. Legge has shown that the name survived in Gnostic papyri. 
+ Thompson, op. cit., p. 77. 


336 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Seven-cycled Arali, or Hades. The two tree-stumps probably 
correspond to the two tree-gods Tammuz and Giz-zida, who 
guarded heaven. 

The tablet, regarding which much has been written,* preserves 
Babylonian eschatological traditions in a very mixed style, 
and seems to me to be the work of some alien race, possibly 
Kassite. 


* Clermont Ganneau Revue Archaologigue, 1897, pp. 337, et Seg.5 
Perrot and Chipiez, “ Chaldean and Assyrian Art,” vol. i. p. 349; Jas- 
trow, “Babylonian and Assyrian Religion,” pp. 578, e¢ seg.; Boscawen 
Fournal, Palestine Exploration Fund, 1882. 


APPENDIX D 
PoE DELUGE, LEGEND 


HE deluge legend, which is found in the eleventh tablet 
of the Gilgames-Nimrod epic, is so manifestly a pre- 
epic fragment, which has been interwoven to suit the 
zodiacal or climatic arrangement of the poem, that it 

is best treated of separately. The fact of its being an interpre- 
tation is shown by the story being lined or paragraphed off from 
the rest of the text in two of the copies which have come down 
to us from the Royal Library of Nineveh. 

Like the Cosmic epic, the deluge story has passed through at 
least two stages of development before it reached the classical 
form in which it was incorporated. In the earliest stage it was 
a storm-myth based upon those terrible winter storms which 
during the months of December and January sweep down upon 
the Babylonian plain from the highlands of Western Persia. It 
is these storms that we find in the magical tablets identified with 
the terrible destruction-bringing storm-gods, and we can trace 
the influence of these ancient hymns in the later text.* 

As in the deluge tablet, we find Adad, or Rimnon, directing 
the terrible storm. “ Adad within it thundered ;” so the storm 
demons are the associates and servants of this god in the old 
magical texts. 

Thus we read— 


“These seven are the messengers of Anu the king, 
Bearing gloom from city to city. 
Thick clouds that cast gloom over the sky, 
Whirling wind-gusts, causing darkness on the brightest day, 


* See Col. II., lines 26-47. 
337 Z 


338 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


Forcing their way with baneful wind-storms. 
The inundation of Adad, are they mighty destroyers ; 
At the right hand of the storm-god they march.” * 


In course of time the old nature-myth of the terrible storms 
in the winter months, and especially in the ‘‘ month of the curse 
of rain,” or Sebat, “‘the month of destruction,” became affected 
by the transition of magic and demonology into religion. And 
there grew up the tradition of a special deluge, sent as a punish- 
ment for the sin of mankind. This conception would naturally 
grow out of the older magic, for the terrible storms must express 
the anger of the gods with man; and the trouble and sickness 
they caused must be a punishment for some wrong-doing on his 
part. 

Just as the nature-myth of the wars between chaos and cosmic 
order, or darkness and light, gradually became. by religious 
influence transformed into the dualism of the conflict between 
good and evil, so the storm now becomes the divine means of 
punishment. The hero Gilgames, who has journeyed to see the 
only mortal who could tell him the secret of immortality, Samas- 
napisti (Living Sun), the Chaldean Noah induces him to tell the 
story of his preservation ; thus :— 


“ Samas-napisti spake thus to the Gilgames— 
I will tell to thee, Gilgames, the treasured story, 
The decision of the great gods I will reveal to thee. 
The city of Surippak, a city which thou knowest, is situated on the 
bank of the Euphrates. 
That city was evil, and the gods within it decided to cause a deluge. 
All the great gods, Anu their father, Bel the warrior, their counsellor, 
The throne-bearer, Ninip ; their leader, En Nugi, 
The lord of wisdom ; and communed with them. 
Their command he repeated— 
“Reed hut, reed hut, brick-house, brick-house ; 
Reed hut, listen ; brick-house, give heed.’ f 
O man of Surippak, son of Ubara Tutu, t¢ 


* Thompson, “ Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia,” p. gt. 

+ Haupt very ingeniously suggests the comparison with the words 
of Isaiah i. 2.: “‘ Hear, heavens, and give ear, O earth.” 

t Servant of Marduk, but originally “ Servant of Ea,” [utu being 
a title of Ea. 


APPENDIX D 339 


Erect an edifice, build a ship, 

Abandon your property, lay hold of life, 

Cast aside your wealth, and save life, 

Load the ship with living creatures of all kinds. 
The ship which thou shalt build, 

Carefully measure its dimensions ; 

Equal its breadth and length ; 

On the ocean cause it to ride. 

I pondered, and said unto Ea, my lord, 

The command thou spakest unto me 

I will obey, and will execute it, (but) 

‘What shall I say unto the city, the people, and the elders ?’ 
Ea opened his mouth, and said— 

He spake unto me, even me, his servant, 

‘Thus shalt thou answer, and speak unto them.’ 
Bel hath rejected me in his anger ; 

No longer can I set my face in Bel’s land.” 


The opening portion of this text has many points of interest 
when compared with the Hebrew accounts. We notice that the 
deluge was sent by the gods for the wickedness of the people of 
the city of Surippak, a city which has not as yet been identified. 
According to the account here given, the gods in council decide 
upon the punishment of men by a deluge, but the leading in- 
stigator is the god Bel. This is the old Bel, the Mullil of the 
Sumerians, the lord of the world, and especially the affairs of the 
world. He was also the lord of the ghost-land, and under him 
were all the demons. His act of vengeance seems almost 
personal, for Ea addresses him thus: “Ea opened his mouth 
and spake a word to the warrior Bel (saying), Wherefore, where- 
fore didst thou not consider, and thou hast made a deluge, and 
thou a counsellor of the gods, O warrior.” Again, on the 
sacrifice of thanksgiving, we find Bel excluded from the sacrificial 
feast. ‘May Bel not come to my altar, because he did not 
consider, and made a deluge, and appointed my people for 
destruction.” The explanation of this prominence of Bel, the 
old god of Nippur, is not difficult to explain; in the light of 
recent discoveries, the oldest form of the deluge legend was 
exclusively like the storm-myths and the oldest cosmic legends, 
a product of the School of Eridu, but in course of time that 
school was replaced by the Northern School of Nippur, and a 
rivalry existed between the two which never ceased until the two 


340 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


were fused into one in the theological School of Babylon. We 
now come to the 7é/e of Ea, the creator and protector of man- 
kind. “He it is who intervenes to deliver Samai-napisti and all 
belonging to him from the terrible deluge and destruction. He 
warns the sage of the coming destruction ; and as the god of the 
sea, the patron of boatmen and sailors instructs him to build a 
ship—for the Chaldean vessel is distinctly a ship with masts, 
decks, etc., and a pilot. The vessel in the Hebrew account is 
described in a very abstract manner as a box (3A), a word 
also used for the ark of bulrushes in which Moses was 
placed. The use of this word may be derived from the peculiar 
box-shaped form of the ark-of Samas-napi8ti on some of the gems 
(see p. 288). I would make the suggestion that it is connected 
with dup, or 7p, the Sumerian word for “a reed basket,” and as 
the oldest boats of Babylonia were made, and still are made, of 
reeds covered with bitumen, the word may have been preserved 
in this way. 

We now find Ea assuming the 76% of protector of mankind, 
and especially of Samas-napisti and his family. Much has been 
made by writers of the polytheistic character of the Babylonian 
legend, but it is far less prominent than it first appears. The 7vé/e 
of Ea is exactly that of the Hebrew Yaveh. He it is who warns 
man of the coming deluge, and through him are conveyed all the 
orders as to the construction, provisioning, and voyage of the 
ark; and at the sacrifices of thanksgiving on the mountain of 
Preservation (/Vizir) it is he who appeases the wrath of the 
offended god Bel, and brings about the translation of his faithful 
servant Samas-napisti. One very important point to notice is 
that the name of Marduk does not occur in the story, which shows 
that the composition is older than the epic age (about B.c. 2000), 
and had not come under the revision of the Babylonian priest- 
scribes, as had the Creation and other poems. 

The building of the ark in the Babylonian account is essentially 
descriptive of the construction of a great boat or ship. It is 
built with six stories or decks, and each divided into six (or seven) 
compartments, and provided with a mast.* Next, the vessel is 


* One reading says Zo/e, and on one of the gems the Chaldean 
Noah is represented pushing his boat with a pole. 


APPENDIX D 341 


made water-tight with bitumen. Here we have a fact mentioned 
by the Elohistic writer (Gen. vi. 14, 15)— 


‘* Six sar of pitch I poured on the outside, 
Three sar of pitch I poured on the inside.” 


The Hebrew version is, “Thou shalt pitch it within and 
without with pitch” (vi. 15). A little sidelight is thrown on 
the importance of caulking by one of the laws relating to ships in 
the Code of Khammurabi, when we read (clause 234), “If a ship- 
wright a vessel of sixty gur capacity has caulked for a man, two 
shekels of silver he shall give him.” In a tablet in the British 
Museum, the date of which is not given, but probably about s.c. 
500, we have the record of 120 measures of bitumen for the 
king’s ships. Next we have the provisioning of the ark as in Gen. 
vi. 21: ‘And take thou unto thee all food that is eaten, and 
gather it to thee, and it shall be food for thee and them.” 

The Babylonian account is more detailed— 


“ The carriers brought three sav of oil into the ship, 
One sar I used for libations, 
One sar I stored away. 
I slaughtered oxen, 
I slew victims each day, 
New wine, sesame wine, oil and grape wine, 
This for the people to drink as the water of a river. 
I prepared:a feast like unto that of the New Year.” 


Next we have the embarkation of human and animal life— 


“All that I gathered together, all that I had of silver I gathered 
together. 
All that I had of gold I gathered together, all manner of the seed of 
life 
I caused to ascend into the ship; all my family and relatives, cattle 
of the field, wild beasts of the field, of every kind I caused to go up.” 


These passages call for some comment. In the dual Hebrew 
accounts we have a marked difference. The Elohist (vi. 19-21) 
commands the preservation of the living creatures in pairs: 
“ Kvery living thing of all flesh, two of every sort, shalt thou bring 
into the ark, to keep them alive; they shall be male and female.” 
Here the writer is in agreement with the Babylonian writer, but 


342 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


the Yahavist (vii. 2, 3) introduces a literal selection, distinguishing 
between the clean and the unclean, and ordering that seven of 
the clean or sacrificial animals should be preserved. The difference 
from the Babylonian account is only apparent, and both writers 
could obtain their material from the tablet. On the building of 
the ark, the first duty was to provide sacrificial material, wine, and 
oil, and victims, such as were used at the Babylonian festivals, 
where all animals must be pure. As this was a festal sacrifice, 
like unto that of the New Year, on entering the ark, so also on 
leaving it was there a festival. Here we read, “I offered victims, 
I built an altar on the peak of the mountain, and seven 
vases I set up, and into their bowls calamus, cedar, and sweet 
herbs I heaped up.” Although no number is given for the 
victims, it is very reasonable to suppose that as seven is the 
prime number of all the calculations of the tablet, they also were 
offered by sevens. 

Before passing to consider the very poetic account of deluge- 
storm, it is to be noticed that the poem is one belonging to an 
age of advanced civilization. Festivals are fixed; there is an 
organized priestly ritual, and a full pantheon; gold and silver are 
used, and workmen are employed. Such a civilization existed 
certainly from B.C. 3800. 

The text resumes— 


“The season the sun-god had appointed, and 
Then a loud cry arose at eventide, causing it to rain from heaven 
heavily. 
Enter within the ship and close thy door. 
That season drew near ; 
The loud cry in the eventide caused it to rain from heaven heavily. 
Of that day I dreaded its appearance. 
To look upon that day I had fear. 
I entered into the ship and closed the door. 
To direct the ship was Buzur Bel the boatman ; 
The great house I gave to his charge.” 


Now comes the storm— 


“A loud cry arose at the dawn of light. 


There were heaped upon the horizon of heaven black clouds. 
Adad in the midst thundered. 
Nabu and Sarru went in front. 


APPENDIX D 343 


Marched the throne-bearers over mountain and plain. 
Nerra (Plague) pours out destruction. 

Nergal went in front casting down all. 

The spirits of heaven bore torches ; 

In their fury they shook the earth. 

The storm of Adad swept the sky ; 

All light was turned to thick darkness. 

Like a battle charge over men it swept ; 

One saw not the other ; men no longer saw the sky. 
Even the gods dreaded the deluge. 

They took refuge and ascended to the heaven of Anu. 
Like dogs the gods cowered and lay in heaps.” 


Here we have, as I have already said, a graphic description 
of one of those great winter storms which so often sweep over the 
plains of Chaldea— 


“Shrieks Istar like a woman in child-birth. 
Cries the great goddess with a loud cry. 
All of former time as turned to clay. 
Thus I in the presence of the gods proclaimed evil. 
For the destruction of all mankind I proclaimed, 
Yet I will give birth to men, even though, 
Like the spawn of fishes, they fill the sea. 
The gods, together with the spirits of heaven, wept with her. 
The gods on their seats sat in tears, 
Covering their lips. . 
Six days and seven nights 
Went forth the wind and deluge, and whirlwind swept (all). 
On the arrival of the seventh day moderated the great deluge 
That had warred like a great host. 
The sea became quiet, and ceased the evil wind and great deluge. 
I gazed (out) and saw the seething sea, 
And all mankind turned to corruption. 
Like reeds their corpses floated. 
I opened a window, and the light fell on my face. 
Overcome, I sat myself down, I wept, 
Over my face flowed my tears ; 
I looked to all regions, naught but sea. 
After twelve double house arose an island. 
The ship drew near to Mount Nizir ; 
The mountain of Nizir held the ship ; to float it was not able... . 


0 


The text then describes how for seven days the ship remained 
on the mountain. 


344 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


We next have the incident of the sending forth of the birds, 
which in the Hebrew account is confined to the Elohistic writer 
(vili, 6-1 2)— 

“When the seventh day approached I sent forth a dove. 
The dove went forth : it flew about, it returned because there was no 
resting-place. 
I sent forth a swallow : the swallow went and flew about, it returned 
because there was no resting-place. 
I sent forth a raven : it left, and the decrease of the waters it saw ; it 
ate, it floated, it returned not.” 


Here, instead of sending the dove a second time, we have the 
swallow sent forth. This is, no doubt, due to the Babylonian 
superstition regarding the swallow, which was called ‘‘ the destiny 
bird.” It is interesting to notice that Berosus preserves the 
bird tradition also. We read, “And when the rain ceased, 
Xisuthrus sent out some birds, but they returned back to the 
ship, as they could find nothing to eat, and no place of rest. 
After a few days he sent forth other birds. These also returned, 
but with mud on their feet. Then Xisuthrus sent forth others, and 
they never returned. Xisuthrus knew that the earth had appeared.”* 
The raven also was an omen bird among the Babylonians. In a 
magical text the raven is called “ the bird that helped the gods,” 
and it frequently appears in the magical texts.— Next comes the 
sacrifice of thanksgiving, the ritual details of which I have already 
described. 


We have now a most important passage introduced— 


“The gods smelled the odour, the gods smelled the sweet odour, 
The gods swarmed like flies round the master of the sacrifice. 
From afar in her coming the great goddess Istar (drew near) ; 
She lifted up the great gems which Anu had made for his glory. 
She spake, saying, These gods, by the precious stone on my neck, 

may I never forget. 
These days, on which I ponder, may I never forget. 
Let the gods draw near the altar ; 
But let not Bel come to the altar, 
Because he took not heed and made a deluge, 
And counted my people for destruction.” 


* Duncker, “ Hist. Antiq.” vol. i. p. 240. 
t+ Thompson, “ Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia,” p. 28. 


APPENDIX D 345 


This intervention of Istar in the story is very interesting, and 
at the same time difficult to explain. Some light has, however, 
I think, been thrown on the Istar element in the story by the 
ancient poems, just acquired by the British Museum. One of 
these poems relates to a terrible flood which devastated the land, 
and which was removed by the intercession of the goddess Istar. 
Here she is called the “‘ mother of mankind,” and I am inclined to 
think that the intervention in the deluge story is to be traced to 
this old folk story. 

However, her intervention forms a most important episode, 
for it explains the origin of the tradition of the rainbow in the 
Hebrew account. The passage, which reads, “She raised on 
high the gems which Anu had made for his glory,” reads, ‘‘ 887 
(C=)), rabuti 8a Anum ibusu ana zi-khi-su.” The whole 
gist of the meaning of the sentence depends on the reading of 
the ideographic group <=]. This group nearly resembles that 
for bow ((X)), £as¢u, the Hebrew Seth, That an error might 
have arisen, a still more valuable explanation, however, is forth- 
coming. The group first is explained by zamzabi, “a sacred 
stone or pillar,” the Hebrew 1231) (matstsebah). The matstsebah was 
the conical sacred stone anointed with oil, and used as the stone of 
covenant. The stone anointed with oil glistened with rainbow 
colours, and thus the bow in heaven came to be regarded as a 
vast covenant stone set up in heaven. ‘This certainly explains the 
words in Gen. ix. 14: “The bow shall be seen in the cloud, 
and I will remember my covenant which is between me and you.” 
This solution is still more confirmed by the next line, where we 
read, ‘‘ These gods” (that is, the gods who had caused the deluge), 
““because of the crystal or gem which is upon my neck, may I 
never forget.” The goddess is here following a Babylonian 
custom of swearing by one of those cone-shaped pendant minia- 
ture matstsebahs which the Babylonians often wore on their necks 
as charms. 

Here, again, we encounter a somewhat confused blending 
of the Ea and Bel or Mullil deluge traditions, and the variance 
between the Schools of Nippur and Eridu. Here the anger of 
Bel is aroused at the failure of his scheme to destroy all mankind. 


“ Bel from afar off on his approach beheld the ship resting (on the 
mountain). 


346 THE FIRST OF EMPIRES 


His breast was filled with anger with the spirits of heaven. 

Wherefore has come forth a living thing, why has a man escaped 
destruction ? 

Adar opened his mouth and spake a word to the warrior Bel— 

Who but Ea could have done this thing ? 

For Ea knows all things. 

Ea opened his mouth and spake a word to the warrior Bel— 

Thou counsellor of the gods and warrior, 

Why, why didst thou not consider? and thou hast made a deluge. 

Surely the doer of sin shall bear his sin, the doer of evil shall bear 
his evil. 

Be merciful, cut not off entirely. ... 

Wherefore make a deluge? Let lions be increased, and let men be 


minished. 

Where make a deluge? Let panthers(?) increase, and let men be 
minished. : 

Wherefore make a deluge? Let famine be established, the land 
washed. 


Wherefore make a deluge? Let the plague increase, and men die. 

I revealed not to (Adra-khasis) the secret of the great gods. 

I sent to Adra-khasis a dream, and the secret of the great gods he 
heard.” 


The name Adra-khasis, ‘‘ the reverent and wise,” ‘really an 
epithet, has been reversed and read Xhaszs-adra, and corrupted ~ 
into Xisuthrus of Berosus. 

The plea of Ea is most important, for here we see the source 
of the promise of Yaveh never again to smite the earth (viil. 27), 
but instead, the punishment of the wickedness of man is first 
assigned to individual responsibility, and the instruments of 
destruction confined to the dread Trinity of destruction which 
ever war against mankind—plague, pestilence, and famine. It is 
this Trinity of destruction that figures so prominently in the 
Hebrew writings ; as, for example, in the punishment of David for 
numbering the people (2 Sam. xxiv. 13), where the alternative 
punishments offered to David for numbering the people are, 
“Seven years of famine, three months’ harassing by the foe, or 
three days’ pestilence.” Or, considering the date, even more 
remarkable are the words of Ezekiel: “Therefore will I diminish 
thee ; neither shall mine eye spare, nor will I have pity. A third 
part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall 
they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part I will 


APPENDIX D 347 


scatter to the winds, and I will draw a sword after them (Ezek. 
v. 13). So also Ezek. vi. 12. Also, ‘I will consume them by the 
sword, and by famine, and by pestilence” (Jer. xiv. 12). The 
diminishing of mankind by wild beasts recalls the plague of lions 
on the Samaritan colonists (2 Kings xvii. 25). Practically the 
intercession of Ea meant that now no special terrible visitation 
such as the deluge would be employed to punish men, but that 
the ordinary forces of nature and the struggle for existence would 
accomplish the divine purpose. Samas-napi&ti speaks— 


“Bel thus changed his plan, and came into the ship; he took my 

hand, and raised me up. 

He raised up my wife also, and caused her to kneel beside me. 

He turned towards us, placed himself between us, and blessed us, 

(Saying), Hitherto Samas-napisti has been a mortal, 

Now Sama8-napisti and his wife shall be gods like unto us ; 

And §ama8-napisti shall dwell in a remote (secret) place at the 
mouth of the rivers. 

He took us, and in a remote place at the mouth of the rivers he 
caused us to dwell.” 


So ends the deluge episode which has been woven into the 
epic. The translation of the sage and his wife recalls that of 
Enoch, while the words used resemble those found in the story 
of the Fall: “Behold, the man has become as one of us.” 

There remains one other interesting point to be noticed. In 
the Babylonian account the ark rests on Mount Nizir. Was this 
a real region, or only a mythical mountain? In the Hebrew 
account of the deluge the Elohistic writer calls the resting-place 
the mountains of Ararat (viii. 4). Berosus makes it the Gordyzean 
mountains, that is, the Kurdish mountains. Now, these traditions 
appear all to be late. From the description in the tablet it 
would appear that the mountain was especially associated with 
Bel, hence his anger at the escape of the sage and his family. 
The mountain of Bel, or the “ Mountain of the World,” was 
probably Rowandiz, which rose above the table-land, which was 
the native. home of the Sumerian people long before they 
descended into the lowlands. It was the Olympus of the 
Babylonian mythology, where the gods met in solemn conclave, 
and is the “ Mountain of Assembly ” in the uttermost part of the 
North referred to by Isaiah (xiv. 13, 14). In the Assyrian 


348 THE FIRST OF EMPIR@S 


inscriptions of the middle Assyrian empire, which are so rich in 
geographical details, there is a region called Nizir, which lay to 
the north-east of Assyria, in Kurdistan—this may have supplied 
the tradition of the Gordyzean mountains which Berosus pre- 
serves ; and Hebrew and Christian traditions indicate Jebel Gudi 
in Mons Masius as the resting-place of the ark. The Ararat of 
the Bible lies still further north, and is the Uratu of the Assyrian 
inscriptions, to the north-east of Lake Van. This region was 
certainly not known to the early Babylonians in the epic or 
pre-epic ages, and, indeed, does not appear in the cuneiform 
inscriptions until the ninth century, and its mention in the 
Hebrew account indicates its late origin. 

I am inclined, therefore, to think that Mount Nizir of the 
tablet is like the ‘‘ Mountain of the World,” the Babylonian Olympus 
a mythic site to which various locations were assigned by various 
theological schools at different periods. In the mythological 
texts it means the “ Mountain of Preservation,” and as such was 
located in or about the region regarded as the birthplace of the 
human race. With regard to the relation of the Hebrew and the 
Babylonian traditions, I must be brief in my remarks. The 
Babylonian account, like the Hebrew, is a composite document, 
containing two principal elements, (1) a tradition of a deluge, in 
which Ea plays the vé/e of Yaveh in the Hebrew account, a story 
which proceeded from the School of Eridu, and which, like the 
Creation legends and the culture-myth, may have been accessible 
to Hebrew writers through Canaanite channels; (2) a legend, in 
which Bel is the offended god, and in which sacerdotal editing 
was prominent. This may have been accessible to Hebrew 
writers from Assyrian sources, and to the exiles. Lastly, we have 
a very old flood-myth associated with Istar, which has also been 
drawn upon. Behind all these is the geological fact that at 
one time, and possibly at a time when man was living in the 
Persian Apennines, the plains of South Chaldea were submerged, 
and gradually the waters were drawn back by the accumulating 
alluvial. This tradition would account for the “ Mountain of 
Preservation” being placed in the highlands to the north-east of 
Chaldea. 


NED Ee 


ABEL, 78 
Abram, 36, 39, 177, 208, 328 
Abramic genealogies, 31 


Abu Hubba. See Sippara. 
Abydos, 103, 105, 114, 319, 325 
Adam, 78 

Adah, 80 


Agade, 6, 65, 119, 127, 168 

Agriculture, 8, 43, 154, 227 

birthplace of, 141 

Akkad. See Agade. 

Aleppo, 331 

Alluvial, 1, 3, 5,9 

Amenophis III., 31, 37 

Amenophis IV., xiv, 30 

Ammurabi. .Sce Khammurabi. 

Amraphel, 177, 179 

Amurru, 20, 131 

Anu-Banini, 12, 130, 322 

Anzan, 60, 64 

Anzanites, 13 

language of, 14 

Apirak, 7 

Arabia, I, 139, 161, 197, 331 

Arabian dynasty of Babylon, 61, 65, 
168, 177, 279 

Aram Naharaim, 30 

Ararat, 348 

Ardu-Naram-Susinak, 11 

Ark of the Covenant, 181 

Armenia, I 

Assur, 15, 18, 20, 186 

Assurbanipal, 14, 26, 328 

Assurnazirpal, 27, 32 

Assyria, ix, 9, 13 


Assyria, foundation of, 15, 18, 20 
three epochs in history of, 16 
—— fertility of, 17 

—— buildings of, 17 

—— wars of, 26 

—— literature, v, 29 

Astyages, 14, 33 


BABEL, I19 

Babylon, 28, 164, 167, 169, 180 
Babylonia, alluvial site of, 1-4 
fall of dynasty, B.C. 742..13 
extent of, 39, 42 

art of, 326 

Bagdad, 331 

Bakhtiaris, 14 

Bible, x, 9, 31 

Book of the Dead, 5, 197, 268 
Borsippa, 29, 65, 264 

Bricks, early use of, 95, 97, 330 
Burial customs, 94, 104, 109, 124, 335 


CAIN, xii, 73, 78 

Calah, 15, 20 

Calendar, Babylonian, 146, 179 

Calneh. See Nippur. 

Canals, 8, 127, 189, 192 

Capital punishment, 204, 220, 221, 222, 
223, 224, 226, 232, 233, 234, 236, 
237, 238, 240, 251 

Cattle, 6 

—— census of, 153 

Chaldea, ix, I 

—— produce of, 7, 9 

| —— cradle of civilization, 48 


349 


350 


Chaldea, literature of, 265, 268 

art of, 319 

Civilization, traditional beginning of, 66 

Commercial documents of Babylonia, 
51, 151, 155 

Corn tariff, 143 

Corvee for public works, 192 

Creation legends, xi, xii, 67, 168, 275, 
279, 288, 306, 313 

Cuneiform writing, x, 38, 64, 65, 318 

Curium, 39 

Cush. See Kish 

Cyprus, 39, 65, 127 

Cyrus, 14, 170 


DAMASCUS, 331 

Daniel, 305 

Darius, 130 

Death, legend of, 332 

Decalogue, xii, xix 

Deluge, the mounds of, 4 

legend of, x, xii, 5, 66, 285, 337 
Denderah, 329 

Dyala, 9 


EDEN, garden of, 48, 73, 74, 77 

Edfu, 329 

Education in Babylonia, 264 

Egypt, ix, xvi, xviii, I, 5, 40, 64, 88, 
90, 105, 109, 116, 139, 147, 197, 
205, 294, 296, 329 

—— prehistoric civilization of, 89 

colonization of, 95 

—— literature of, ix, 267 

art of, 319 

Elam, 4, 5,7; 9, 13, 62, 65 

Elamite dynasty of Babylonia, 179, 180 

Elamites, language of, 14 
overthrow of, 173, 174, 185 

El Kosh, 22 

Enoch, 79 

Eponym Canon, 27 

Erech, 4, 6, 80, 119, 168, 185, 192, 278 

Eridu (Eri-dugga), xii, 4, 67, 169, 
339 

Esarhaddon, 28, 32 

Esau, 78 


INDEX 


Eski Harran, 32, 39 
Ethnology of Chaldea, 61 
Euphrates, 1, 2, 48, 189, 191, 192 


FALL oF Man, legend of, 73, 76 
Flint implements, 59, 90, 106, 141 
Foundation ceremonies, 327 


GAZA, 34 

Goim. See Gutium. 
Gudea, 40, 328, 329 
palace of, 136 

statue of, 138 

Gutium, 14, 131 


HEZEKIAH, x 
Hieraconpolis, 319, 320, 323 
Hit, 2, 47 

Hittites, 47, 63 

Hosea, 21 

Hunting, 37 


TRAQ, 4 
Irrigation, 8, 189 


JABAL, 80 
Jacob, 78, 153 
Jareb, 21 

Jehu, x 
Jezebel, 78 
Jokha, 4 
Joseph, xv, xviii 
Joshua, xx, 183 
Jubal, $0 


KALAH. See Calah. 

Kalkhu. See Calah. 

Karibu-sa-Susinak, 11 

Karun, 4 

Kassites, 13, 61 

Kerkha, 4 

Khalpirti. Sze Apirak. 

Khammurabi, code of, xii, xv, 6, 16, 

18, 21, 170, 197, 341 

victories of, 174, 177, 181, 185 

administrative faculty of, 189, 193. 
See also ‘* Laws.” 

Kha-m-itias, xvi 

Kharran, 31, 37 


INDEX 


Khenoch. Sec Enoch. 
Khu-en-Aten, 30 
Khuzistan, 9 
Kileh-Shergat, 16, 18 

Kish, 39, 119, 170, 171, 191 
Kurdistan, 1, 65 

Kutha, 4 


LABAN, 153 
Lamech, 80 
Land survey under Manistu-su, 143, 
148 
Larsa, 6, 176, 264 
Laws respecting adoption, 213, 247 
agriculture, 227 
—— assault, 214, 248 
—— commerce, 218, 231, 252 
— doctors, builders, etc., 215, 
250 
land, 159, 227, 254 
—— marriage, 207, 236, 241 
slaves, 217, 223 
—— theft, 221, 223, 224 
witchcraft, 220 
See also Khammurabi, code of. 
Lebanon, 17 
Lugalzaggisi, 39, 120 
Lulubini, 12, 322 
Luristan, I, 9, 65 
Lybians, 46 


MaGan. See Sinai. 
Magic, 270, 279, 329 
Manistu-su, 6, 51, 143 
Mardin, 20 

Martu, 20 
Melchizedek, xv 
Merodach-baladan, 29 
Mesopotamia, 5, 20, 47 
Midian, xvi, 7, 40 
Milukha, See Midian. 
Mitanni, 30, 37 


Naharini. 


Mohammedan law compared with Baby- | 


lonian, 207, 210 
Mohammedans in Babylonia, 160 
Mongol race in Chaldea, 60, 61, 63, 64 
Moon-worship in Babylonia, 31, 80 
Moses, xv, xvii, 183, 267, 318 


351 


Mosul, 22 
Mughier. 
Music, 83 


See Ur of the Chaldees. 


| NABONIDUS, 32, 133, 170 


Nabupalassar, 328 

Nadu. See Nod. 

Nagada, 96, 319, 325 

See Nari. 

Nahum, 22 

Naram Sin, 7, 10, 20, 39, 64, 128, 322 

Nari, 30, 37 

Nar-mer, 321 

Nebuchadnezzar, xiv, 74, 133, 329, 335 

Nile, 2, 5,139. See also Egypt. 

Nimrod, 15, 39, 119, 122, 277 

Nineveh, 14, 18, 20, 21, 29; 186, 188, 
337 

Nin Sugir temple offerings, 7 

Nippur, xii, 4, 6, 20, 119, 127, 169, 
264 

Noah, 9, 73, 282, 287, 340 

Nod, land of, 79 

Nuffar, See Nippur. 


OATH, sanctity of, 203 


| PALESTINE, 20, 160, 177 


Paschal lamb, 331 
Pentateuch, xi, xv 
Persia, I 

Pheenicia, 20 
Pheenicians, 38 
Pottery, origin of, 92 
Poucht-e-Kouh, 4 


RAINBOW, legend of, 345 
Rameses II., xvi 
Rehoboth-Ir, 15 

Resen, 15 


SAMARAH, 2 

Samas-napi8ti. Sze Noah. 

Samson, xxi, 274, 284 

Sargon I., xiii, 6, 10, 20, 39, 64, 128 
Sargon II., 20, 32, 39 

Scythians, 33 


352 


Semites, xix, 12, 13, 21, 28, 61, 64, 65, 
273, 276 

Sennacherib, x, 4, 28, 174 

Seth, xii 

Shalmaneser, 27, 32 

Shem, 13, 62 

Shinar, land of, 1, 120, 179 

Sinai, xix, 7, 20, 40, 64, 105, 321 

Sin-mu-ballit, 177, 179 

Sippara, 4, 127, 201, 265 

Sirpurra, 6, 8, 20, 21, 127, 148, 328, 
331 

Sodom and Gomorrah, 306 

Stele, use of, 94, 103 

Stele of the Vultures, 123, 321, 324 

Subarti, 20 

Sumerians, 8, 28, 64, 65, 268, 273, 331 

Susa, 4, 7, 10, 13, 20, 59 

destruction of, 14 

Syria, 64, 161 

Syrians, 38 


TEL-EL-AMARNA, XV, XX, 30, 37 
Tel Ibrahim. See Kutha. 


Tie, queen of Egypt, 31 
Tiglath-pileser, 26, 36 
Tigris, 1 
—w— inundations of, 
Tubal-Cain, 80 
Tushrattu, 38 


UR-BAHU, 134 
Ur Nina, 21, 105, 322 
Ur of the Chaldees, 4, 31, 39, 


¥ 


WarKA. See Erech. 
Wheat, 5, 107 

—— indigenous home of, 9, 
Witnesses in law-suits, 202, 
Women, position of, 155, 160, 
Writing, pictorial basis of, 4’ 
—— development of, 53 : 
—— inventors of, 63 ; 
Babylonian and Egy] 
pared, 95 


ZILLAH, 80 


MYTHOLOGICAL: INDEX 


(Won-Babylonian names in italics) 


Al (the bride), wife of the Sun god, 
117, 167 

ADAD (Storm god), sometimes read 
Rimmon, 269, 288 

ADAH (Beauty), wife of Lamech, 81 

ADAPA, mythic ruler of Eridu, 69, etc. 

ADAR, war god, 77 

Ahriman, form of Ahuramazda (¢.v.) 

Ahuramazda, supreme Persian god, 
299 

ALLAT (goddess), queen of underworld 
and wife of Nergal. Sve also Eris 
Kigal, 110 

Amen Ra, Egyptian Sun god, 169 

Amesha Spentas (Immortal gods), 
Persian, 312 

ANGRO-MaAYNUsS, Persian spirit of evil, 
298 

AN SAR, God of Heaven, 300, e¢ seq. 

ANU, God of Heaven, 12, 13, 184, 294, 
et SEQ. 

ANUNIT, wife of Anu, 166, 167, 316 

ANUNNAKI, good spirits of earth, 163 

Apsu, Primeval Ocean, 292, etc. 

ARAD-EA, the Chaldean Charon, 283 

ARALI, tombland, 336 

ARURU, goddess who creates man, 316 

ASARI, title of Ea afterwards applied 
to Marduk, 168, 316 

ATARPI (mythical person), read Atar 
Khasis by some, 77 

Bau, Sumerian goddess of Fertility, 


134, 147 


BEL (God of the World), the older 
Bel, god of Nippur, the Mullil of 
Sumerians (¢.v.), 12, 172, 184, 260, 
261, etc. 

BEL (the Lord), title often applied to 
Marduk (¢.v.) 

Brit (Beltes), wife of older Bel. 

Daevas, Persian demons, 298, 299 

DaGan, Babylonian deity, sometimes 
identified with Dagon, but appa- 
rently female, 166 

DILBAT, planet Jupiter, 166 

Ea (Water god), the oldest god of 
Babylonian pantheon cultus gods 
identified with Oan or Oannes, 
sacred city Eridu, 12, 67, 68, 77, 
163, e¢ seg. 

EA-BANI (Creation of Ea), the satyr- 
like companion of the hero Gilgames, 
280, etc., 283, 288, etc. 

Eximmu (Spirit of the Dead), 109 

Eris-KiGAL (Bride of the Pit), title of 
Allat, wife of Nergel, queen of the 
underworld, 110 

GAGA, messenger of Ansar, 300 

GIBIL, fire god, 85 

GILGAMES, hero of Chaldean national 
epic, whose episodes resemble those 
of Nimrod, lord of the city of Marad 
(Nin Marad), King of Erech, 277, 
et seq. 

GIsKIN, sacred tree of Eridu, 75 

Giz-zIDA, the god of Eridu, 75 


353 2s 


354 


Hathor, Egyptian sky-goddess and of 
mountains, 321 

Fforus, Egyptian sun and sky god, 
321 

IcIGI (spirits of heaven), 163, 168 

Ists, Egyptian goddess, sister and wife 
of Osiris, 117 

IsTAR, the chief goddess of the Semites 
in both Babylonia and Assyria. 
Nearly all cities had a local Istar 

IsTAR of Erech, 279, 280 

IsTAR of Nineveh, 22, 26 

Isum (Fever god), 272 

KHARIMAT (devotee), one of the at- 
tendant maids of Istar of Erech, 22, 
280 

KHUMBABA, mythic Elamite ruler in 
national epic ; defeated by Gilgames, 
282 

Kincu (Maker of Darkness?), the 
spouse of Tiamat, on the Creation 
epic, 292, 303 

LAGMA, title of moon god of Ur (La- 
mech), 80 

LAKHMU and Lakhamu, creatures in 
Creation epic, 297 

Maat, Egyptian goddess of truth and 
law, attribute of Cosmic order, 295 

MAMA, ancient mother goddess, 274 

Marpvuk, Babylonian national god, 
163-258, 259, etc.; son of Ea of 
Eridu, but with rise of the first Baby- 
lonian dynasty assumed title of many 
other gods 

MEssIAH, Messianic idea in Babylonian 
texts, 301, 302 

Mithra, Persian sun god, resemblance 
to Marduk, 302 

MULLIL, Old Bel of Sumerians (¢.v.) 

Mummu (Chaos), the messenger and 
companion of Apsu, 294 

Nasu (Nebo), scribe god, 69, 139 

NaGAR (Workman), title of Lamga 
(Lamech), Ea, and Othir gods, who 
presided over arts and crafts, $1 

NAMTAR (Fate), the messenger of Allat 
and Eris-Kigal, 112 


MYTHOLOGICAL INDEX 


NANNAR (Illumination), moon god of 
Ur and Kharran, 31, 81, 306 

NARu (river), god of the Holy River, 
76 

Nephtys, Egyptian Ve het (house lady), 
attendant of Osiris, 117 

NeERGAL (lord of the great city), god of 
the dead, also of war and death, 262 

NinA, goddess of the pools and fish- 
ponds of the Sumerians, gives name 
to Nineveh, 21, 188; worshipped 
at Sirpurra, 125, etc. 

Nini (Lady), Sumerian name of Istar, 
165, 166 

NIN-IGI-NAGIR-GID, god of mensura- 
tion, title of Ea, 69 

NinIpP, god of hunting, 37 

Nin KARRAK, Sumerian goddess iden- 
tified with Gala, the goddess of 
medicine and poison, 263 

Nin Kuarsac, lady of the mountain, 
very ancient Sumerian goddess, 126, 
166 

Nin Kurra, lord of mountains or 
quarries, title of Ea, 69 

Nin MArap, lord of Marad, title of 
Gilgames- Nimrod, whence name, 
title of kings of Rio, 122 

NIN SuGIR, sometimes read Ningirsu, 
local god of Sirpurra—a war god, 
125, 126, etc. 

Nin ZapDMIN (lord of sculpture), title 
of Ea, 69 

NIssaBa, corn goddess, 120 

SAmas (Sun), Babylonian sun god, 12, 
13, 73, 165, 172, 260, 269, etc. 

SAMAS-NAPISTI (Chaldean Noah), 73, 
283, 286, etc. 

SAMKHAT (Pleasure), attendant maid of 
Tstar, 22, 283 

SAmsoN, Hebrew solar hero, resembling 
Gilgames, 22, 283 

SAR-DAR-NUNA, local god of Kharran, 
35 

Sry (moon god), temples at Ur and 
Kharran, 12, 13, 34, 35, 165, 172, 
269, etc. 


= 


MYTHOLOGICAL INDEX 355 


SUANNA, sacred quarter of Babylon, 35 
SusINAk, local god of Susa, 11, 12 
TAmMMUuzZ, the Sumerian Dumizi, ‘‘ Son 
of Life,” the youthful sun god and 
god of vegetation, lover of Istar, the 
Adonis of Babylonia, 70, 73, 279 
TIAMAT, the sea, the watery chaos, the 


mother of all the Hebrew Tehom, 
the dragon of the Creation epic, 
275, 292, 305, etc. 

TISKHU, a war deity, sometimes iden- 
tified with Istar, 291 

TuTU, title of Ea, afterwards assumed 
by Marduk and Nebo, 165, 309, etc. 


INDEX TO AUTHORITIES REFERRER 


Amelineau, 88, 319 

Berosus, 5, 67, 179, 264, 344, 346, 
347 

Bruennow, 38 

Brugsch, Dr., 36 

Budge, Dr., xvi, 18, 37, 40, 90, 122 

Candole, De, 9, 60, 107 

Cesnola, De, 39 

Cheyne, xi 

Clerg, De, 332 

Dangin, T., 63, 100, 144, 148, 192 

Driver, xi 

Duncker, 344 

Evans, Arthur, 47, 266 

Griffith, xvi, xvii 

Guyard, 39, 63 

Halevy, 63 

Haupt, xi, 63 

Herodotus, 5, 117 

Heuzey, Leon, 323 

Hilprecht, Dr., 4, 63, 83, 97, 98, 112, 
113, 114, 115, 120 

Hommel, 63 

Jastrow, 63, 64, 73, 336 

Jensen, 38 

Kean, 61 

Kennedy, James, xxiii 

Kerr Porter, 122 

Kang; 1; We.) 1S; 10} 253035 Obs 07. 
70, 76, 82, 168, 178, 183, 189, 201, 
275, 289, 291, 305, 307, 308, 309, 
310, 314 

Koldoweh, Dr., 112 

Lanzoni, 107 

Layard, Sir Henry, 14, 62, 63 

Legge, E., 320, 323, 324 

Lenormant, 63 


Lewis, Sir G. C., 265 

Loftus, 132, 175 

Mackenzie, H. M., xv 

Macnaghten, 207, 210, 213, 214 

Morgan, M. de, 4, 9, 48, 59, 61, 88, 
98, 107, 128, 183, 192, 319 

Naville, M., 321, 322 

Neil, Rev. I., 161 

Niebuhr, 265 

Oppert, 63 

Perrot and Chipiez, 17, 70, 336 

Petrie, Prof., 46, 59, 88, 97, 98, 104, 
106, 138, 172, 319 

Pinches, T., 63, 75, 183, 217 

Pognon, 63 

Quibell, 319 

Radau, 120 

Rawlinson, Sir Henry, 1, 132 

Renan, xix, 73 

Sarzec, De, 72, 123, 136, 144 

Sayce, Prof., xv, 38, 53, 63, 75 

Schiel, Dr., 10, 183, 184, 192, 332 

Schweinfurt, Dr., 9, 107 

Smith, George, x, 63 

Smith, Robertson, vii 

Steindorff, Prof., xvi 

Stephanos, 180 

Strabo, 60 

Taylor, 71, 99, 105, 113, 330 

Talquist, Dr., 87 

Thompson, J. C., 65, 69, 75, 109, 268, 
344 

Tomkins, Rev. G., xv 

Tylor, Prof., 46 

Weissbach, Dr., 14 

Wellhausen, xi 

Xenophon, 5 


PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES. 


+ 
$ 
x 
NM 
z 
5 
. 
. 
N 
S 
H 
x 
% 
a 
3 
4 
8 
> 
BY 
+ 
8 
N 
s 
3 


> 
= 
3 
>| a 
v 
x 
dy : 
wm! ss Seite j 
% Why ey ——s — 
Qe iS ~ au 
» ‘\) So 
\ : } ~¢ 
ay) An 
x p 
‘ DS N ~ 
F » \ 


(ee i — SS = 


Date Due 


Demco 38-297 


he t 
en a er 


ial thea i tn ten tae et Neaee fH 


Sporewn pil 
pet 


iu 


reozcv9c0 


Wil 


